Torments of Kurosaki Shun 1: Prey and Hunters
by Higuchimon
Summary: [au: canon divergence: 15/15] Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 1: 1,677|| **story:** 1,677  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto would have crossed dimensions to Standard. For the purposes of this story (started between the airings of episodes 73  & 74, with possible future information to be included depending on how said information works with my plotline), the invasion took place a year & a half before the events of Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V. Also, while this is mostly genfic, I am not going to rule out some implications of Dennis x Yuuri/Yuuri x Dennis & Shun x Yuuto/Yuuto x Shun for the future.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Yuuri lounged against the side of a building, looking out over the myriad of tangled streets, alleyways, and ruins beneath him. Some of the ruins had been streets and alleyways themselves once upon a time. Now they weren't much more than memories and wrecks, for those who bothered to remember them at all. He certainly didn't, not for more than a few passing seconds, and he didn't know anyone else who would. After all, there wasn't anyone around who had the time to loiter carelessly daydreaming of what had once been.

Yuuri's task here today wasn't to daydream, not that it ever was. He didn't even consider it a 'task' at all, but a delicious cross of entertainment and training. With perhaps something of an emphasis on 'entertainment'.

Not that there were many who would've called what he was doing _fun_ , but Yuuri didn't let the opinions of others bother him. He enjoyed himself and that was all that mattered to him.

He caught a slight movement from the corner of his eye and waved Dennis to silence before the other had a chance to open his mouth. Dennis had many good qualities, but knowing when to shut up wasn't one of them, not without someone to tell him to do so. Yuuri meant to train that out of him in due course, but at the moment, his priorities involved something else altogether.

Something and someone. He knew what Dennis wanted to ask anyway, and he flicked one hand to a particular patch of shadow deep in the heart of the territory he'd kept his eye on for the last half hour or so. Their prey lurked there, hoping, waiting for a chance to escape that wouldn't come.

Yuuri wouldn't let it come. He hated giving up his toys and he'd already spent three weeks with this one. He hadn't ruined it nearly enough yet. In fact, he didn't think he'd ruined it at all, which made it all the more amusing, because he knew that he _would_ sooner or later.

Yuuri played rough with his toys. He always had. Finding ones that could stand up to him always thrilled him and this was an especially resilient one.

 _There!_ His eyes lit up with unholy fire as something – someone – slid out of that shadow and darted toward another one. Dennis leaned forward and Yuuri held him back with another quick wave of his hand. The city, even in ruins, wasn't built so that their voices could be heard by someone that far down, but Yuuri hadn't gotten as far as he had without learning a few things.

It only took him a few moments to watch the swiftly running prey and figure out which way he planned to go. Leaning closer to Dennis, Yuuri murmured what he had in mind, and in another heartbeat, the two split up, one going one way, the other taking a more twisting route. Both paths would end up in the same place sooner or later anyway: right in front of the fleeing prey.

There wasn't much that pleased Yuuri more than seeing absolute terror in the eyes of his prey. Oh, so many of them tried to hide it, but the eyes always gave them away, if only for a few seconds. He treasured those moments, hoarding them up and thinking of them when he had nothing better to do. He hadn't gathered nearly as much from tonight's prey as he wanted to.

But no matter on that. He had plenty of time to do so. This prey would last for a long, long time. Weeks. Maybe even months. Who knew, perhaps even _years_ , if he took good care of it.

He paused for a moment, listening, and was rewarded by the quick patter of worn out boots on broken ground. Just what he'd expected. Another moment defined exactly where the target was, and he leaped there, cape flowing in the breeze, landing directly in front of the fleeing former rebel.

Of course, if one asked Kurosaki Shun, he would've declared he was still a rebel, just one being held prisoner.

Yuuri had no intentions of asking him. He already knew the answer that _he_ chose as truth.

"Caught you," Yuuri sang softly, meeting Kurosaki's golden eyes. It was those eyes that made him want to keep this one instead of having him sealed into a card. The eyes of a hunter, a raptor, a fighter.

To Yuuri, there was no sweeter prey than another hunter.

Kurosaki had taken out some of the lesser elements of the invasion force, just enough so that he and his piddling group of allies were considered respectable targets. Bringing him in had been _thrilling_. Keeping him around to play with, even more so.

Kurosaki took a quick step back, then his head snapped around so fast Yuuri wondered if he were trying to give himself whiplash. But when Dennis strolled up, waving his gloved hand merrily, he understood.

"Trapped like the rat you are," Yuuri said, making himself comfortable against the side of a building. There was a little space there, enough so that if Kurosaki tried he might be able to worm his way through. Assuming that Yuuri _let_ him of course. As if he would. "You know what comes next, don't you?"

Kurosaki pulled himself up straight. In the weeks he'd been a prisoner, he'd had only a few good meals, and had been forced to run more than he probably should have. He'd been lean enough before. Now he carried an edge of hunger and determination that encouraged Yuuri to keep this up. Good prey was prey that made the hunt worthwhile.

And like any good hunter, Yuuri took very good care of his prey. This was probably the only situation where he practiced 'hunt and release', after all. To an extent.

"Of course, you can pick who you want to fight tonight," Yuuri continued. "Since there are two of us."

Kurosaki's gaze flickered from one to the other of them, then landed on Yuuri. "You."

No matter how often Kurosaki glared at him, Yuuri could tell there was a certain amount of fear and loathing there to go along with the raw hatred. And he knew exactly why, too.

After all, Yuuri looked just like Kurosaki's _dear_ best friend Yuuto.

But that was a toy to be played with another time. Yuuri gestured Dennis to stay out of this. He could have his fun time with Kurosaki later. It wouldn't be the first, either. He'd dueled them both, separately and together, and while the win-loss recorded remained firmly in their favor, the ex-rebel did get more experienced with each duel.

Not enough to beat _Yuuri_ , of course, and Yuuri doubted he'd ever be that strong, but it kept the small flame of hope burning inside of Kurosaki, and that hope helped to made him the interesting prey that he was.

"Next time," Dennis grumbled, situating himself so that Kurosaki couldn't run past him. Not that he _would_ ; he knew very well that there wasn't any way that he could get out of the city without Yuuri knowing about it, and Yuuri didn't look kindly on unauthorized escape attempts.

Kurosaki tried one of those once before. If Yuuri removed the scarf from his neck, he knew he'd still see a healing scar.

But now was the time to duel. It wouldn't change Kurosaki's status at all, but it amused Yuuri, and it let him decide exactly how well Kurosaki would be treated over the next few days.

He could've decided that any other way, but there was nothing more amusing than a good hunt, especially since it meant that Kurosaki contributed to his own care, whether he liked to or not.

Almost as one they activated their duel disks. Yuuri examined his first hand; as he'd expected, quite as good as it could get. Not _perfect_ by any means, but it would do to begin the fun times with. He shot a glance over at his opponent.

"You may have the first turn." It wouldn't make a difference in the long run, but he could afford such transparently false courtesy. Kurosaki knew well how fake it was, glaring back at him, but he checked his cards anyway.

He had to admit that Kurosaki's deck was amazingly well suited to fight against one like his. The raptor runner had even beaten him once or twice. _Twice,_ he reminded himself in amusement. _And only because I drew bad hands._ That didn't happen often, and if he'd believed in any higher power he would've thanked them that it never had during actual combat. He could afford a loss or two against a prisoner who could gain nothing but better food from a victory.

Today wasn't going to be a loss, however, not for him. Every card fell just the way that he wanted to, and while Kurosaki was clearly not having an off day himself, Yuuri was simply the better duelist. Before very long, Yuuri wiped out the last of Kurosaki's life points, knocking him against the wall where Dennis still lounged, waiting for this to be over.

"Not bad," he praised his prey as he stalked over there. Lips curled into a mocking smile, he held out a hand to help the other up. Kurosaki ignored it, pushing himself to his feet on his own. "I think you earned at least a good dinner tonight."

Kurosaki's shoulders twitched but he said nothing, did not even look at his captor. Yuuri tsked a little.

"You need to learn better manners. But that can come tomorrow." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long black leash. "It's time to go home now."

Before Kurosaki could utter a word of protest, Yuuri pulled down the scarf around his neck and clipped the leash onto the collar hidden beneath it. Leading his favorite captive along and with Dennis jumping to land beside him, Yuuri made his way back to their base, satisfied by another successful hunt.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 2: 1,821|| **story:** 3,498  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This chapter goes back in time before the first one, to show how Shun ended up in Yuuri's clutches.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Shun stared down at the refugee, who couldn't have been older than ten or twelve at the most. The refugee stared back up at him, terror growing in his eyes at the way Shun looked at him. Shun didn't care. Something else altogether held his attention.

"What did you say?" He had to hear it again. He had to _know_.

The refugee drew a quick breath. The thought of not answering him didn't even cross the boy's mind, and well it shouldn't. Shun wouldn't take no for an answer in these circumstances.

"I said, I heard that a girl who looked a lot like you...well, someone saw her over in what used to be one of the residential districts." The place that he described rang far too familiar to Shun's ears.

The place that less than a year ago, he'd called home. _Ruri_ called it home too. Now nothing more than rubble, not even fresh enough to smolder.

"Why would she be there?" he muttered to himself, waving the boy away. He didn't need to hear anything else. What he knew now confused him enough as it was.

There wasn't any reason for her to _not_ be with them. Up until two weeks earlier, she had been. Then she'd just vanished and no one had seen a single sign of her, until now.

Prickles of wariness ran up Shun's spine. He didn't like this. It didn't feel right at all.

"You're going to go there, aren't you?" Yuuto. Standing beside him, as he always had been, this time with a serious, concerned look in his eyes.

Shun turned away. If he met Yuuto's eyes, his friend would know what was going through his mind. Sometimes one needed secrets even from one's best friend. "It doesn't make sense. It's probably a trap."

Though why someone would want to trap _him_ he couldn't figure out. Unless it was just to trap anyone who might follow such a lead.

One couldn't be certain how these Fusion scum thought, aside from 'let's go to another universe and destroy everything that they love, it'll be a fun time'. Shun didn't want to know what kind of a mind came up with _that_. He'd seen enough of the results of it.

Yuuto's hand touched his and he jerked around automatically to stare at him. Damn. Yuuto always knew how to get to him. Frankly, he was surprised his friend hadn't yet punched him in the stomach and carried him off somewhere. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that happened.

"Don't do it, Shun. At least wait for me." Yuuto stared at him in all seriousness. "They might be ready for one of us, but not both."

Shun's shoulders tensed at that. Most of the dueling warriors they'd met could handle large groups. He and Yuuto made a formidable team, however, and had so far managed to avoid defeat no matter who they'd run across. Going with Yuuto _would_ be the better choice, without a doubt.

"Where are you going?" He knew Yuuto wouldn't be deceived by the mildness of his answer. Yuuto wasn't deceived by anything that he did, ever.

Yuuto didn't tell him right away. He only gave Shun a careful, thoughtful look, the kind of look that said Yuuto wanted to make certain Shun didn't get into too much trouble without him. Shun had long since lost track of how many times he'd seen that look in the past, before the invasion.

After the invasion, he'd lost track even faster. There had never been any trouble that the two of them couldn't get out of so long as they were together, and the very idea of going on his own wouldn't normally have occurred to Shun.

At least it wouldn't have until Ruri vanished and now he hunted every single strand of information he got his hands on that bid to lead him to wherever she might be. Yuuto came along more often than he didn't, but there were times when they had too much information and they split up to track down whatever they could. It didn't matter in the end, since they'd all ended up at dead ends.

Maybe now would be different. Shun _wanted_ it to be different. So he held himself patiently, waiting for Yuuto's answer.

"A supply run. Some of the others found a couple of houses that haven't been completely wrecked or looted yet."

Shun knew how rare that was. This would get them food and who knew what else for a while longer. He told himself, as he had many times before, that this wouldn't last forever. The time would come when they pushed these Fusion bastards back out of their world and they could rebuild, making Heartland into the glorious place it had once been.

"You should come with me." Yuuto wasn't asking. Shun knew he was right. But other thoughts, other questions slid their way into his mind almost at once.

What if it really was Ruri lurking in the ruins of their old home, for whatever reason she might possibly have? Maybe she'd left something that she hadn't told him about? Or she could be injured in any number of ways.

No. He wasn't going to go with Yuuto. He shook his head a bare fraction. "I'll be here when you get back." He would be, he promised himself and Yuuto at the same time. He would still go to see if it were Ruri there, but he would come back. He would be there before Yuuto returned. Yuuto's trip would take at least two days, since he would have to get there through the broken city, sort out what could be used and what couldn't be, and get it back safely.

From the look Yuuto gave him, his friend did not believe what he said at all. Shun didn't change his mind, no matter how much Yuuto wanted him to. What he did was get ready to go home as soon as Yuuto was out of sight.

He was lucky; Yuuto was going north. His goal lay to the south. They would be about as far from one another as they could get. Shun wasn't at all certain if that were genuine luck, at least beyond the fact Yuuto wouldn't find him and lecture him.

It didn't take him more than a day to get there. In better times it would've taken less; he could've either walked it or taken the monorail. The closer he came, the more Shun began to wonder just how much of a trap this really was.

 _It's quiet._ Quiet didn't even describe it. Dead was far more accurate. A breath of wind scarcely bothered to blow at all, and when it did, all that it stirred up were vague scents of fire and destruction. Those scents had become so common that he didn't even notice them anymore.

It took him a little more time than he would've thought to get to the house itself, or what was left of it. A small pile of ash and broken bricks replaced the city block they'd called home. And moving there, slowly, stumbled someone wearing a cloak.

Shun hesitated. Ruri hadn't ever worn a cloak. But he could imagine so much, and frankly, he worried about what could've happened to her too much to be as cautious as he should've been. He cursed himself for years for that.

"Ruri?" He stepped out from behind what had once been a car. He didn't recognize it, but that was more because there wasn't much left of it _to_ recognize. "Is it you?"

The stranger – if stranger it was – didn't move at all. In fact, they came to an absolute halt when he spoke. Shun moved closer, one hand reaching out. "Ruri? It's me." He wanted it to be her more than anything.

His fingers caught on the hood of the cloak and it fell back. His eyes widened; this was _not_ Ruri at all. His mouth dried for a single heartbeat.

"Yuuto?" It couldn't be; the hair was different and the eye, but the _face_ … the face was heartstoppingly alike, save in one simple respect as the stranger reached up to seize Shun's wrist in a firm grip.

"No. _Yuuri_." He twisted and Shun didn't have time to think about doing anything at all, too surprised and confused to resist. He fell, the stranger – Yuuri – setting one foot on the middle of his back. For all of his resemblance to Yuuto, there was quite a bit of pressure there that Shun wasn't certain if his friend could've put.

Then he shoved all of that away and wriggled as hard as he could, wanting to get out from there. "I don't care who you are! What do you think you're doing?"

Yuuri snapped his fingers, confusing Shun even more, especially as he stepped off the taller duelist. Shun thought at first he would be let go. Then from above there fell something that wrapped tightly around him, binding his arms to his sides and his legs together. The harder he struggled, the tighter the net bound him.

"I think I'm taking the best friend of my counterpart in this world," Yuuri said, leaning down close enough to speak into Shun's ear. "You're her brother, aren't you?"

Ice folded itself inside of Shun, terror and rage weaving together as he once again started to fight the net. "What did you do to Ruri? Where is she?"

Yuuri chuckled, a sound that Yuuto could never have made. Yuuri enjoyed Shun's anger, Shun realized. That didn't make him stop being angry. If anything, it made it worse.

"I don't want to tell you. It wouldn't be any fun if I did, not now." Yuuri circled him, staring from every angle. "And I want have a _lot_ of fun with you."

"No." Shun refused. He didn't care what Yuuri had in mind, he wouldn't be a party to it. He might make an exception if it came to dueled and defeating Yuuri, but aside from that? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Yuuri stopped, standing where Shun couldn't see him, and reached down to press Shun's head against the broken rocks. "The word is 'yes'." He tugged on Shun's scarf until it came off and was dropped beside him. Shun struggled harder; Ruri had given him that!

Yuuri did not care. Something slender and metallic slid around Shun's neck, then a _click_ sounded. It took Shun a few seconds to realize what he'd heard: a lock being fastened. Then it all fell into place: Yuuri put a _collar_ on him!

"We have a great deal to discuss, Kurosaki Shun," Yuuri said, voice rich in satisfaction. "I do hope you haven't made any long-term plans, because I'm about to cancel them for you."

Shun thought he knew how to hate. But now he began to learn what the word actually meant.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 1: 1,681|| **story:** 5,179  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri brought friends.

* * *

 _Yuuri is so good at what he does._ Dennis did not hide the smile on his lips. There wasn't anyone around to see it, so there wasn't any need to. Watching Yuuri bring in that piece of XYZ trash, collared and leashed and clearly absolutely furious about it, amused him far more so than he thought anyone else might guess.

Except perhaps Yuuri, of course. But Yuuri knew him better than anyone else currently did, so he didn't actually count.

He knew more or less what his friend had in mind for this Kurosaki Shun. The only reason Yuuri had any focus on him was because of Yuuri's own counterpart in this world. To take away something that belonged to someone who was him and not him and rework it into something that was Yuuri's…

Sometimes Dennis wondered just how Yuuri looked himself in the mirror. Then it occurred to him that he probably didn't.

Regardless, Dennis knew his own role in this farce to come. Yuuri had made certain he knew it before he'd even set out to capture Kurosaki in the first place. He slipped his deck out of its holder and fanned it for a moment, examining his cards, then returned his attention to the monitor where Yuuri and Kurosaki made their way through the broken remains of Heartland.

He almost regretted what he'd had to do. This place had been beautiful not all that long before. It wasn't any longer, and that was more or less because of him.

Dennis didn't let it bother him very much, though. For one thing, the invasion would've happened with or without him. For another, what he really regretted was not being able to continue having fun as a performer there anymore. There was something pleasing about deceiving the hands and eyes of others with nothing more than a flick of his wrist or a few words from his silver tongue.

 _I can do it still with him, though._ By Yuuri's orders, Kurosaki wasn't to know anything about Dennis until Yuuri decided it was time for him to do so. And he would hardly get Dennis's biography when Yuuri decided he should know anything at all.

He checked again, then nodded to himself. Yuuri had reached the appropriate checkpoint. Time for the first act of the show to begin.

* * *

It wasn't bad enough that this Yuuri had _collared_ him. No, that couldn't have been enough, Shun raged. But he'd also handcuffed his hands behind his back and then attached a leash to the collar!

Shun couldn't even begin to think of everything he would do to pay Yuuri back for this. But he had a list growing in his mind already and he would make certain that one day, he'd have everything checked off on it.

"Now, what is this?" Yuuri mused, clearly not to Shun since he hadn't spoken a word to him since beginning to drag him through the shattered streets of Heartland. Shun didn't know where they were going, only that he didn't really want to go there with Yuuri. He could think of several places he wanted Yuuri to go, but none where he wanted to go with him.

But he looked up anyway, in the hope that this might be something that he could use to his advantage to get out of there.

 _What is that?_ Of all that he'd ever imagined seeing here, a fellow teenager with crazy red hair and a far too cheerful smile for all the death and destruction around them hadn't been it at all. The new arrival lounged against a pile of rubble, tossing his cards back and forth between his hands.

"Hi, there!" He greeted as if seeing strange people in cloaks, one of them holding another who was handcuffed on a leash, was an everyday occurrence in his life. "Can I interest either of you in a duel?"

The urge to do battle surged through Shun's veins and he started to step forward, until Yuuri yanked on the leash. That didn't quench his spirit in the slightest, but he did send a very annoyed glare to his captor.

"And just who might you be?" Yuuri sneered at the stranger. "Dueling around here is likely to get you killed."

The other only shrugged, grinning. Shun decided he had to be a few cards short of a proper deck. "I'm better than you'd think. Come on, just a friendly little game. What would it cost you?"

"Nothing, since I have no intention of dueling you," Yuuri replied. He turned a thoughtful gaze toward Shun. "But if it will get you out of the way, I might have a game for you."

He'd also taken Shun's duel disk away from him. Shun hadn't honestly expected to see it back. Why would Yuuri want him to duel, except to be turned into a card?

But there he was, holding it out to Shun as he reached to undo the handcuffs. "These will go back on once you're done here," he said, meeting Shun's eyes coolly. "I want to see if you're worth my effort."

Shun's head came up, his eyes sparking with pride. "If you want to see what I can do, then duel me yourself." Oh, he _wanted_ that, more than he could imagine wanting anything else aside from Ruri back.

"Oh, we will duel. Just not now. I have a special place set up for us." Yuuri kept hold of the leash, even as he stepped aside to give Shun a view of the stranger.

"I bet you two have the most _fascinating_ story to tell," the other guy said, a cheerful grin spreading all over his features as he settled his deck into his duel disk. "I hope I can hear it one day."

"I don't." Shun cared nothing at all for what this guy wanted. At least he had a chance to duel, to stretch his skills one more time before whatever Yuuri had in mind happened. Maybe he could even do something so he could get away. The leash made that problematic, but he would at least watch for a chance.

"Dennis Macfield," the other said, nodding toward him as if this were an every day sort of duel. "And you would be?"

"Kurosaki Shun." Shun could not possibly have cared less what this man's name was. But now that the formalities were over with, it was time to do battle.

Seeing his mighty Raid Raptors soaring, even when he himself remained on Yuuri's leash, soothed a part of Shun that he hadn't even realized had already been rubbed raw by his new situation. They would fly free, no matter what, and no matter how long it took him, he would do the same. Yuuri could not keep him leashed forever.

He also could not entirely believe Dennis's dueling style. _Entertainment_? That was what drove him onward? Shun's lip curled as he whittled away at the other's life points. He took a few hits himself, but none of it meant that much to him. He'd taken harder hits in the past from casual duels against Yuuto. This Dennis was no Yuuto.

Shun ignored Yuuri's presence, despite the unyielding sensation of those cold eyes on him at every moment. He wasn't dueling to show off for Yuuri. He dueled because he was a duelist and that was what he did.

Finally, he brought down the finishing blow, taking down the last of Dennis's lifepoints and sending him spiraling backwards into the rubble. As the holographic images faded, Shun dusted himself off. He could feel a slight loosening of the leash, little more than the result of him taking an automatic step back…

But he had to take he chance. He surged backwards, winding to the side, feeling the leash fall out of Yuuri's hands. He scrambled forward now, not wasting words of any kind, but leaping ahead, intending on getting around Dennis and out of the area altogether.

He'd taken perhaps three steps beyond the entertainer when the leash around his neck suddenly tightened once more, pulling him back. Shun scrambled to yank at it, wondering if it had somehow gotten caught on something. That would be the worst luck ever, his chance at escaping thwarted because the leash hung up on something.

"No one said you could go anywhere." The far too cheerful voice wasn't Yuuri's at all. It was _Dennis_. Shun twisted his head around, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on, and snarled to see the other duelist's foot planted firmly on the leash, keeping him from taking another step.

Yuuri strolled up next to Dennis and picked the leash up. Dennis didn't move until he had it firmly in hand again. Then he glanced over, a twisted smirk on his lips. "Thank you, Dennis."

"My pleasure, Yuuri," Dennis replied, that same grin he'd borne throughout the duel on his face. "Don't you just hate it when your toys try to run away on you?"

Shun's breath caught in his throat, rage twisting all around it. _He said Yuuri's name. Yuuri never told him his name._ The answer burned through him with all the blazes of all the novas that had ever exploded. _He's on Yuuri's side._

Yuuri yanked the leash hard enough to drag Shun back to his side, pulling the duel disk off. Shun made another grab for it, but Yuuri moved too fast, simply had too much control at the moment. Once again the handcuffs snapped around Shun's wrists and Yuuri granted him a satisfied look.

"You have a best friend in your Yuuto. But Dennis is _my_ best friend. As loyal to me as you are to yours. Perhaps more." He shrugged. "As if it matters. Come along now."

Tired and battered from everything that had already happened, Shun still didn't want to make it easy on Yuuri. He just didn't have the strength right then to make a second attempt.

 _Soon,_ he told himself as he stumbled through the wreckage that had once been his city. _Soon._

 **Note:** This was already an alternate universe/timeline anyway but the airing of episode 76 makes it even more so, as according to that, Sora  & Dennis didn't know one another, and in what I'm writing, they're going to. Just a little heads up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 1: 1,637|| **story:** 6,816  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri brought friends.

* * *

Yuuri's favorite part of the day was when all of his other duties were taken care of and he could spend an hour or so amusing himself with his favorite prisoner. Not that he had any other prisoners that were all of his own to toy with - he could've had them if he'd wanted to – but Shun would be his favorite even if he'd had dozens or hundreds of them.

There were so many ways he could derive entertainment from his captive. First and foremost was Shun just being there in the first place. He'd gone out into the city a few times since capturing Kurosaki and spied his counterpart Yuuto searching desperately. He hadn't let himself be seen; he didn't want anyone else left here to get a hint of his existence. But he could listen very well and what he heard thrilled him.

Yuuto was furious. Yuuto spent hours searching for both Kurosakis. Yuuto would not find either of them. Yuuri would make certain of that.

"Yuuri." A very familiar voice. He replied without looking up from the monitors that let him watch Shun.

"Yes, Professor?" He really was grateful to this man. Without him, he couldn't have indulged his interests to the depths that he did.

"One of my students has earned a high reward for his performance," the Professor continued. Yuuri could feel his presence behind him, but didn't bother to turn. Shun was far too interesting at the moment, stalking around his room yet again, muttering threats of violence against Yuuri and all that he held dear.

Really, you'd think he'd get tired of that sooner or later.

He waited to hear what else the Professor had to say and was not disappointed when he kept going.

"I want you to give him a fight against your prisoner there. I think he'd enjoy it."

One side of Yuuri's mouth quirked up. "Is that so?" He hadn't really intended to let anyone else play with his toy, but it _might_ be worth trying out. There were only so many combinations that he or Dennis could try against Shun. Bringing in a new person could provide even more entertainment.

"Here." On one of the screens near him, information spilled out, along with images and a deck list. Yuuri spared a few moments to check through it all, his smile warming up a fraction as he did.

 _I think I could like this Shiunin Sora._ "Very well. Send him over."

"He'll be here tomorrow." The sense of the Professor's presence faded away. Yuuri switched his attention back to Shun, who'd switched from stalking around and throwing his five o'clock tantrum to staring out the window of his quarters, fists clenched, raptor's eyes full of rage still. That would never change. Yuuri didn't want it to. Shun reminded him far too much of a wild bird put in a cage, forever raging at its captor. To have him tame down would lose most of the enjoyment Yuuri found in keeping him here.

 _He plays a bird deck. I wonder if I should start calling him a bird to his face._ The thought amused him. He would have to try it out and see how Shun reacted to it. There were other ways he could milk the insult as well. He would take every single moment that he could to grind away at Shun, until there was nothing at all left of him.

He did hope that took a while. He hated having to get new toys too soon, and someone like Shun wouldn't be easy to replace.

* * *

"So you're Yuuri."

The boy was young; at least two or three years younger than Yuuri himself was. His attention darted all over Yuuri's rooms, taking every little detail in, while at the same time enjoying himself with a lollipop. Yuuri sniffed; he'd never been a huge fan of sweets himself. But that wasn't the reason Sora was there.

"And you're Sora." Yuuri settled himself where he could take a look at this newcomer. "The Professor says that you've earned some time with my pet."

Sora's grin glistened with a kind of glee that Yuuri had seldom seen outside of his own reflection. "Can I duel him? I mean, he's nothing but XYZ trash, but I heard he's _kind of_ good." He waved one hand a little. "Not as good as one of us, I know, or you wouldn't have him here at all, but good enough for a little game or two, right?"

Yuuri chuckled. Yes, he did like this boy. "He has his uses. I've thought about seeing if he could be used to train some of the soldiers who need more experience fighting XYZ resitance members." Oh, and wouldn't _that_ be entertaining. Shun, the sharp edge of the resistance, taking out his rage on Fusion duelists and teaching them how to counter his techniques without even realizing it.

Yuuri liked the idea. He would have to put it into use. Shun's reaction once he learned what was going on would make it even better.

Sora considered what Yuuri said, then laughed, a slash of a smile twisting his lips. "Yeah, I like that! So, can I fight him?"

"I think so," Yuuri agreed after another moment of thought. He didn't want to look too eager to see it. In the last week or so since he'd brought Kurosaki in, he'd done his best to set up a given routine, with a specific set of rewards and punishments. Shun hadn't yet tested the boundaries of the punishments available, but Yuuri knew that he would all too soon.

And oh, how he looked forward to that.

* * *

It only took a short while to get everything necessary together. Sora bounced on ahead to take his place, while Yuuri went to pick up his captive. As always, he held the leash coiled loosely between his fingers, and he contemplated taking a picture of Shun held like this, so he could make arrangements for Yuuto to see it. If he could also arrange to see his counterpart's face at the time, that would be perfect.

He would keep the thought in mind. He'd taken Shun just to take away something precious to Yuuto and that wouldn't be any fun at all if he couldn't let Yuuto know what was going on with his precious friend.

 _Maybe something with both Kurosakis. But without them knowing how close they are to each other._

Yuuri _did_ so love to amuse himself with scenes like that. What could be better than the two who searched for one another being so close and yet so far away?

The door to the cell opened. Shun jerked to his feet, glaring at Yuuri, fists clenched by his sides.

"It's time for another duel," Yuuri told him, a deliciously viscious grin twisting his lips. "Tonight is a special one, too." He gestured toward the prisoner, who didn't move an inch. Ah, stubborn as always. But tonight he wasn't going to let Shun be that stubborn. "Come over here. If you don't, there will be consequences."

"What could get worse than this?" Shun spat, crossing his arms over his chest now.

"That sounds like a challenge to me. I love challenges," Yuuri taunted back, sliding one hand into his pocket for a new item he'd brought along. "One last time. Come here. We have someone waiting for us and I don't want to keep him waiting too long."

Shun planted his feet even harder. Yuuri knew that he was doing it just to _be_ stubborn; he held no fear of dueling or death. But he shook his head. His prisoners weren't allowed to be stubborn. He pressed one button on the slender device in his hands.

Energy crackled along Shun's collar, sending him crashing onto the floor. Yuuri did not let it last long; he didn't want Shun to be incapable of dueling. But now he stepped in closer and rolled Shun over onto his back with one foot.

"Are you going to listen to me now?" It was little more than a rhetorical question as Yuuri clipped the leash onto the collar and tugged for him to get up. "That will happen any time you try to disobey me, Kurosaki. I thought it was time I started your lessons properly."

Shun took in several long, gasping breaths, pulling himself to his knees for a few seconds. He looked as if he were ready to be stubborn again, but Yuuri displayed the device one more time, head cocked slightly to the side.

"I can change the setting on this to make it more intense. This was just about ten seconds of the lowest one. I'm not certain if you'd survive five minutes on the highest one."

Yuuri would've given _so much_ to be able to read Shun's mind. Shun was a sword; his purpose was to fight his enemies, no matter what. Even when he couldn't gain anything from it, not even the slightest bit of freedom, and what he did gain he didn't want, he would still fight. He hated giving in even the slightest bit.

But now he had no choice. Giving in to Yuuri's electrical torture meant that he would be able to go and fight. But it was still _giving in_.

Yuuri held back a soft groan of pleasure as Shun finally pushed himself to his feet, choosing as he would always choose: the path that lead to the battlefield, whatever he had to go through to get there.

 _I think I see what Yuuto likes him for._ Someone like Shun would never fail because of weakness, only because someone else was stronger than he was.

Right now, Yuuri was that someone else. And he knew he would remain so for a very long time.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 5: 1,622|| **story:** 8,438  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri brought friends.

* * *

Before the invasion of his dimension, Shun had considered dueling the way that most people of his world did: it was an amusing pastime, a way to settle issues without too many people being hurt – though stories of events not all that long ago painted a slightly different tale – and it was a way for people to make friends. It wasn't something that was used to hurt others, nor was it a way to wage war.

But with the invasion from the Fusion dimension, everything had changed, including the way that people saw dueling. One fought or one died. That was all there was to it. Those who could fight did, protecting those who couldn't. Some of the greatest warriors had come from the ranks of the professional duelists, standing up to fight on a battleground few, if any, of them had ever imagined.

Shun had imagined that he would be a pro duelist one day. He'd also imagined himself as an astronaut, a powerful politician, and a few other amusing jobs, the way that most children did as they grew older. He'd leaned more and more toward dueling as he got older, though, and he'd gained himself a deck once he found out how much of a talent for it he actually had.

He hadn't expected that within two years of acquiring that deck, he would use it to fight people who had been taught how to duel and kill for years. Technically he didn't know if being sealed into a card counted as death, but until they could find a way to reverse the process, it was close enough.

Knowing how to do it – or at least being aware that it could be done with the right duel disk, which he didn't possess – didn't mean that he liked doing it or having it done or seeing it done or any little thing about it. For months he'd presumed that it was still a cleaner action than actually killing his enemies. Presumably they could be released at a later date, and if not, they were at least out of the way, and for some people, it was a fate they deserved, something far worse than death.

By the time he'd known Yuuri for more than a day or two, he'd already made up his mind that if the chance presented itself, he would gladly strangle him with his bare hands and quite likely enjoy every second of it. Finding out that the collar around his neck doubled as a torture device just made him all the more certain about it.

By the time he'd known Shiunin Sora for more than five minutes, he knew for a complete and utter fact that he would do the exact same thing to that brat. He didn't know if he'd enjoy it as much as he would strangling Yuuri, but the idea of doing it to both of them just to find out which he preferred wasn't one that he minded all that much.

His first impression of Sora was that this little brat _was_ a brat. Sora lounged back on a comfortable sofa, kicking his feet back and forth casually, and taking long licks of a lollipop as he watched Yuuri and Shun enter the room.

"Hi, there!" Sora waved briefly and Shun gave him his best unflinching glare. "Whoa, he's a tough one, Yuuri."

Yuuri's smile was the kind of thing that would send strong warriors weeping. Shun ignored it.

"I know. I enjoy keeping him for that." Yuuri strolled over to stand between the two of them. "Sora here has been granted the privilege of dueling against you. But I'm the one who will set up how it happens, to a point."

Shun would've ignored all of that, if it hadn't been for the mention of a duel. The more that Sora licked at his candy, the more Shun wanted to smack him down as hard as he possibly could. It wasn't even really about the sweet. Shun didn't have that much of a sweet tooth himself.

 _He's doing it because he knows that he can._ How long had it been since he'd had any candy himself? Or anything truly sweet? His meals since his capture had varied in quality, mostly depending on Yuuri's mood of the moment he guessed. But all of the ones before that, since the war brought everything to a grinding halt, had been whatever he could drag together when food supplies were enough to warrant meals in the first place.

Yuuri waved his free hand, summoning up a hologram of the ruined city. It wasn't a part Shun was familiar with, but he knew Heartland City well enough to recognize it in general. A particular section of city blocks glowed with another twitch of his hand.

"I've arranged for this part of the city to be closed off for just the two of you. And any spectators, of course." The slash of a smile across his lips was so unlike any expression that Yuuto would ever wear that Shun could actually stand looking at him for more than a few seconds. "You, Kurosaki, will run a merry chase through the streets, while Sora goes after you. One of you will corner the other eventually." That smile acquired a certain smugness that made him look even less like Yuuto. "Of course, you _might_ find the one exit that would lead you back to your rebellion friends before you get cornered or corner."

One particular doorway glowed on the map before them. "Do make this entertaining for me, Kurosaki." His smile glowed even brighter and if it hadn't been for the collar around his neck and the pain he knew would follow, Shun would've punched him in the face right then and there.

But now Yuuri turned to Sora. "You'll go after him after about five minutes. You can do anything you want to bring him to bay for the duel short of actually harming him in any way that won't take more than a few days to heal."

Of course. Shun's lip curled. Yuuri didn't share his toys with other people and certainly didn't want someone else shredding them. But what else he'd said burned in the rebel duelist's mind already and he eyed the doorway on the map, tracing it mentally so he could find it once he was in the area.

Not that he believed Yuuri would just let him go. But he had to find that place anyway. Maybe he could find a way to send a message.

He didn't give up. Not ever. He could bend, but he would not break. He would not.

Yuuri jerked his leash, having kept hold of it the whole time, pulling Shun's attention back to the situation before him. "Come along. I do hope you're ready to put in a few hours of effort." Again that smile that was so unlike Yuuto, on a face that still reminded Shun of his best friend whether he liked it or not. "If you do a good enough job, I'll order the best feast available for you."

That got a sharp look from Shun and Yuuri smiled back at him as he lead his plaything through the corridors. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I thought you would've noticed by now. The kind of food you get is determined by me, and I make up my mind by how well you duel when I want you to duel. If you duel to the standard that I've set, then you'll be fed very well. If you don't, then you won't."

Shun hadn't exactly been keeping a mental list of all the reasons that he wanted to strangle Yuuri. But now he knew that if he _had_ been, then what he'd just said would've been right at the top of it.

He couldn't just throw duels. It went against everything that made him what he was.

There was another reason, too. One that he didn't let himself think of because he didn't want to take a chance on Yuuri somehow figuring it out.

Ruri.

He didn't know where she was, but he knew that Yuuri either knew or had something to do with it and could probably tell him. _Would_ tell him? Probably not, not easily, but he _knew the answer_.

He made up his mind in a single heartbeat. He would go along with what Yuuri said: for now. Until the moment when he found out where Ruri was. Once he knew that, then no matter what it took, he would be out of there. He would put in as much time as he could trying to pick the lock on this collar, to start with. That would be the second obstacle, after finding out his sister's location.

So for now, he followed along with Yuuri and reviewed what he'd seen of that area of the city they were going to in his head. The idea of escaping still hadn't left him entirely, and he still hoped for a chance to drop a message of some kind that could somehow possibly make its way to Yuuto. He refused to give up. He'd rather quit breathing.

* * *

Yuuri couldn't read minds, but he had a fairly good idea of how Shun was thinking after all the time he'd spent watching him. Shun would do as he was told, not for food or for Yuuto, but for his sister.

Manipulating people through the ones that they cared about was so easy that sometimes he thought it should be a crime.

Oh, wait. It kind of was. Perhaps he'd feel worse about it if he actually cared what other people thought.

On the other hand… probably not.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 6: 1,643|| **story:** 10,081  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Yuuri promised that Sora wouldn't be sent after Shun until the other had been running the course through the broken streets for at least five minutes. Shun took off down the nearest alleyway as if he expected Sora to be on his heels in five more seconds.

It wasn't five seconds, but something like another minute before Sora sauntered down after him, thoroughly enjoying this chase already. He'd heard rumors about Yuuri; everyone at Academia had. His exploits were the stuff of legend, the kind of thing that their trainers told them about in an attempt to get them to work harder and live up to the standard that he set.

Sora had tried. He'd always tried, striving until his muscles creaked and his bones ached and he didn't even remember what his bed felt like, he slept in it so often. He'd done everything that he could, and he must've succeeded on some level, since now he had this beautiful reward ahead of him.

He tilted his head, listening. Aside from gusts of wind and the occasional fall of rubble – this city would be little more than a memory in another few months and the sooner the better – there weren't any other sounds.

Which meant that Kurosaki wasn't moving at all. It was too quiet overall; if he'd been running or even walking, Sora knew that he would've heard him. So, the prey had holed up somewhere already. Clearly he didn't trust Yuuri.

 _Smart boy._ Sora chuckled to himself, taking a few more licks on his lollipop, and kept on strolling, making as little noise as he himself could. He didn't want to be surprised by the prey he was tracking. _He_ was a hunter, _Kurosaki_ was the prey, and no matter what Yuuri said, that wasn't going to change.

There. Footsteps. Quick, hurrying, running. Then silence for another few seconds, and a crunch, the skid of rubble. Kurosaki jumped somewhere. It came from higher up. Sora glanced up from the corner of one eye. Nothing he could see from here, but that just meant he needed to get into a better position to see what was going on.

That wasn't hard at all. He leaped upward, bouncing off the sides of the buildings, taking care not to hit any of the weak spots that the dim light revealed to him. He'd rather not slam _through_ one of the walls. He knew a few things about first aid, but he didn't have any supplies with him, and it would look _so_ bad for him if he ended up with a sprained ankle.

He did sort of like the mental imagery that came from imagining Kurosaki with a sprained ankle. Or some other injury. Nothing too bad, of course, he'd promised Yuuri that, and while no one would keep a promise to XYZ trash, he and Yuuri were on the same side. There would be no broken words between them.

Besides, he'd heard stories about what Yuuri did to people who didn't keep their word. Like most stories about Yuuri, they weren't pleasant. He wasn't going to become another one of them.

 _I wouldn't mind spreading a few about him and Kurosaki, though._ If the story of what Yuuri did to his XYZ trash prisoner got out into the rebellion, Sora didn't know what effect it might have, but he thought it would be interesting to find out. He liked poking those idiots with all the sticks he could, real and imaginary, and seeing how they reacted.

More footsteps, and they were closer now. Did Kurosaki really think that he could catch up to him? Or was he just trying to see where Sora was? Didn't matter; Sora would pin him down before he even got close to that supposed access out and have some fun with the duel. He knew he'd win it; he'd trained hard enough and had already defeated a few XYZ users on his own. They weren't as good as they thought they were.

He'd reached the top of the building now and did not hesitate to throw himself into a small alcove created by some of the rubble up here. It gave him a place to listen and locate his prey from. No more footsteps; Kurosaki had stopped again. He was a clever one, that was for certain. Being hunted by Yuuri would do that to a person, given enough time.

He couldn't hear anything else. Not even a breath, and it was still enough for him to hear that if Kurosaki were that close. Sora darted out, eyes shifting back and forth. There were plenty of places the scum could conceal himself and watch for Sora, so he had to be ready for anything.

What he really needed to figure out was if Kurosaki was trying to corner him for the duel or get to the exit. That would help decide which way he was going and what kind of strategy he might have in mind.

 _I'll head toward the exit. Even if he wants to duel, he'll probably try to get there anyway._ It was the kind of thing that a rat in a trap would do and that was all Kurosaki was now, a rat in a trap that continually offered tastes of freedom that would never be more than that. It was beautiful. Sora loved it. He wished he'd thought of it himself. Though he didn't know any particular XYZ that he'd like to have on his own leash.

He darted along, leaping from one roof to the other, and somewhere along the way he spied another figure two buildings away, tall and rangy and as swift as long legs could make him. _There you are._

Just as he'd thought, Kurosaki headed for the exit. Sora laughed under his breath; rats were rats, no matter what. He picked up the pace. He couldn't take the same kind of long strides that Kurosaki did but it didn't matter. They'd end up in the same place anyway.

The exit didn't look like much. A faint shimmer of energy marked the boundaries laid out for this game, and the exit was merely a place where those energies didn't reach, forming a door-shaped hole. Sora raced forward, pushing past Kurosaki, and whirled around to stand in front of the exit.

"Trying to run out on our duel?" Sora asked, raising his arm with his duel disk. "Yuuri wouldn't like that."

"I don't think you can imagine how much I don't care what _Yuuri_ likes." Kurosaki spat out the words, raising his own duel disk. "If we're going to duel, then let's get on with it."

Sora laughed; this was what he was there for. Racing Kurosaki through the streets had been fun enough; he could only imagine how much this had annoyed the XYZ duelist. More than annoyed, _hurt_ him, and now he got to do it again, but up close and personal this time.

Yuuri watched them. Sora knew he was; this was as much for his entertainment as anything else. He wouldn't show himself just yet, since this was also Sora's time to have fun. But Sora was determined to wring every last ounce of enjoyment he could from this, whether Yuuri showed himself or not.

Back and forth their plays went, each of them taking small nips out of each other's life points. Sora did not quite like the look in Kurosaki's eyes whenever he Special Summoned a monster. He hadn't asked about what kind of deck the other played, except that it involved XYZ, of course. He liked the element of surprise being played for and against him. Besides, this was an _XYZ duelist_. What could he possibly do that Sora couldn't counter?

Apparently, quite a lot, as Sora discovered moments later when Kurosaki's monster destroyed every one of his own and slammed into him hard enough to send him crashing against the nearest wall. He lay there for a few moments, blinking, staring up at the char-black sky, trying to get his brain to work properly again.

How? How had that happened? That wasn't even supposed to be possible! This was just an _XYZ scum prisoner_ , someone Yuuri used to amuse himself, not someone who could actually defeat one of them!

"This is why I keep him around." Yuuri's voice floated through the air, even as Kurosaki started to take a step toward the exit. Sora pulled himself up to his feet, shaking more than he wanted to admit, more of it in anger than anything else.

"I want to duel him again!" Sora snapped, fists clenching. This wasn't right! This wasn't supposed to happen!

He could see Kurosaki. He could see the dismissive look on the other's features as he began to look around, probably looking for Yuuri.

"You'll have to earn that. The Professor said only once," Yuuri spoke again. Both Sora and Kurosaki turned now to see him coming out of one of the alleyways, that so satisfied smirk on his lips. His attention rested on his prisoner. "You did very well. I'm very proud of you."

Kurosaki all but hissed his reply. "I don't care."

"I know you don't. But I am anyway." Yuuri now looked toward Sora. "You weren't bad. But you need more practice to have a real chance against him. If you can earn it, I'll let you have another go at him."

Sora stomped one foot, eyes blazing in rage. "I want to duel him again now!"

"No." Yuuri shook his head and pulled out the leash. "You've had your fun. But as I said, if you can earn it again another day." He clipped the leash onto Kurosaki's collar and lead him away. Sora stared after them, hate curdling cold in his heart.

There would be another duel. And that one, he would win.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 7: 1,648|| **story:** 10,081  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

 _They're up to something._ A faint shimmer of energy marked off a dozen or so streets. There weren't any guards anywhere along the area. Yuuto had confirmed this himself; the area wasn't so large that he couldn't circle it in a matter of hours. He'd seen one or two people moving around in it, but they were too far away for him to get a good enough look to tell if he knew them or not.

He kept his temper under control. It wasn't easy in the slightest; he _knew_ that the Fusion warriors still roamed the streets, doing all they could to crush the resistance and whatever other survivors still wandered. But what could they want that section of town for? Off the top of his head, he wasn't even certain if that area had any food or reasonable shelter left in it.

Shun might've known. He wandered as much as Yuuto did, especially since Ruri's disappearance.

Yuuto set his jaw, refusing to let the tide of sorrow that surged up in him have control. Shun was all right. Shun would _be_ all right. Yuuto just needed to find him and he would. It would take time. That was obvious. But it would happen.

 _If he'd just listened to me._ But Shun was like that. The slightest whiff of a hint of where Ruri might be, and he had been off like a shot, determined to go through whatever barriers he'd had to in order to find her.

And now Yuuto had two of them to look for. Rumors still flickered here and there about Ruri, but none of those panned out. No one seemed to have any idea of what had happened to Shun. He'd gone out that day and just never returned.

 _Fusion did it._ Yuuto didn't doubt that at all. He didn't know if they were together enough to form an actual _threat_ to Fusion by their enemies' standards, but he did know that Shun was a powerful duelist who could clean up mobs of Fusion warriors in a remarkably short amount of time. If they didn't have to worry about being worn down by constant dueling, they might have done even more damage to their enemies.

All that led to one conviction for Yuuto: that was why Shun had vanished. Someone on the opposing side recognized him as a strong enemy and took him out.

Yuuto started to turn away from the walled off area. He'd taken little more than a handful of steps before there was a faint sigh of energy. He whirled back around, tense and ready, and blinked when he saw the barriers weren't there anymore. He could hear footsteps now, at least two sets of them, brisk and quick.

Moving fast, he darted into the area, leaping up to the rooftops with all due speed. He didn't know what he hoped to see, only that it would be something worth seeing, something that would at least tell him _something_ , whatever it might be. A clue to the Fusion army's plans, a hint of Ruri's whereabouts, or Shun's, _anything_ at all!

He was closer to the footsteps. He had to stay quiet himself; whoever it was would either attack or get out of there faster if they knew he was coming. Neither result was one he wanted; he wanted _information_ at the moment, not combat. Though after getting the information, he'd likely be right in the mood for combat.

A door opened. Footsteps. The door closed.

Yuuto pushed on a burst of speed and landed on a rooftop, every muscle tense, looking around wildly. Anything? Anything at all?

Nothing. Complete silence. Only vagrant gusts of wind, which gave no clues at all, greeted him. Not even the faintest hint of a footfall now.

 _There was a door. Where was it?_ Yuuto carefully searched around, finding in the end three different doors, any one of which could've been the one that he heard. There weren't any signs to indicate that someone had been through one of them recently, at least not that he could see.

This was _beyond_ maddening. He couldn't even tell if what he'd heard had anything to do with Ruri's disappearance, or Shun's. It could've just been some random Fusion user wandering around taking in the evening air.

Not that Yuuto actually believed that, but it made as much sense as any other option at the moment. Given that the Fusion people had invaded his dimension for no reason at all other than the fact they _could_ , he wasn't willing to put anything past them. They just didn't make sense.

What did he know? That a small section of the city had been temporarily walled off from the rest of it for a short amount of time, little more than a couple of hours. It wasn't a section that held anything actually useful that he knew of. All he'd actually heard were two sets of footsteps and a closing door.

It could've been anyone. It probably had been anyone. No one that he knew. No one that he was looking for.

But the longer that Yuuto thought about it, the longer that he replayed those footsteps in his mind, the more one set clicked in certain parts of his mind. The footsteps called to mind a style of walking that he knew as well as he knew his own. He'd heard it over and over growing up, from the day that he'd looked out of his window and seen a new family moving into the house next door, and first met a pair of raptor's eyes that would become an unshakeable part of his life.

 _Shun. One of them was Shun._

Yuuto didn't know if he wanted it to be Shun or not, in all honesty. The idea of finding him glowed bright and strong in his heart, but why? Why would Shun be there, in this strange cut-off place? And why would he leave but go back – apparently – to Fusion?

It made no sense. There just wasn't any way that it did. If Shun had been captured, and every instinct in Yuuto's body said that he had been, wouldn't he be sealed into a card now instead of wandering around here? If he wasn't a card, then _why_ wasn't he?

With nothing else to learn from, Yuuto decided it would be better to get back to the others than to stand around here and possibly get captured himself. This was still Fusion territory. Better safe than sorry.

He did cast one glance around. He couldn't guess which of these three doors had been the one that he'd heard; they all looked identical anyway. But somewhere around there, maybe closer than he could imagine, was Shun.

 _They're not going to stay around where they can be found._ He didn't know who 'they' were, but that just made sense. By the time he'd got there, Shun and whoever was with him – whoever he was with – whoever had him – had likely already returned to wherever it was the Fusion people kept their prisoners when not taking them on walks around the streets.

Determination flowed through Yuuto's veins along with his blood. _If he came out once, he'll come out again. I just have to keep an eye out._ It might not be around here, but this would be a good place to keep an eye on in the future. Maybe some of the others could do it, while he looked elsewhere.

He made no promises to find Shun. He knew that he would. For that matter, _Shun_ knew that he would find him. It was the same as with Ruri. No promises needed to be made to breathe. It was what they _knew_.

Soon enough Yuuto was back in his own territory, if one could call these long stretches of mostly empty streets and ruined buildings a territory. A few other resistance members moved here and there, some getting food, a few in practice duels. Yuuto met the eyes of a few of those he was somewhat close to and shook his head every time. They knew Shun as well. They knew Shun had gone missing.

"Nothing at all?" One of them asked, sparks of worry flickering through his eyes. Yuuto wouldn't have called him Shun's friend, not with how withdrawn Shun was in the first place, but he knew this duelist looked up to Shun, given his spectacular dueling skills. He even ran a winged-beast deck of his own.

"Not precisely," Yuuto said, making himself comfortable against one of the more solid walls. He hated not having something against his back. It made him feel more vulnerable than he actually wanted to be. "But I don't think there's any doubt at all that he's been captured."

None of them had suspected otherwise, but there was always that slim chance that he'd somehow been injured and was recuperating somewhere out of sight. Yuuto told them what he'd heard, slim evidence though it might be.

"So we'll keep an eye out there," the one who'd spoken before said, clenching a fist. "If we see Shun, we'll get him out of there!"

"Be careful. He'll be well-guarded if he's there at all," Yuuto warned. He didn't like the idea of any of them jumping into something like this, especially against who knew how many Fusion warriors. One set of footsteps now didn't mean that there would only other be one guard on Shun. Or that there'd only been one there at all. He'd _heard_ two people. That didn't mean there weren't more hiding where he couldn't see them.

That got him a wicked grin from the other resistance warrior. "That's just more Fusion scum to mow down before we get him back."

Yuuto let out a tiny smile. He didn't really feel it, though. _We'll get you back, Shun. No matter what._

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 8: 1,749|| **story:** 13,478  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

"That was a fascinating duel to watch," Yuuri said as he led Shun back through the twisting corridors. "And you came so close to the exit, too."

Shun said nothing at all. He knew for a fact Yuuri wouldn't have let him get through there even if he'd managed to get there before Sora had. Yuuri had absolutely no intentions of letting him go.

Which didn't at all mean that Shun wasn't going to _leave_. Just that Yuuri wouldn't be involved in releasing him. Shun didn't care about that. What he wanted was to leave. And on the way out, he'd not only cause as much destruction as he possibly could, but he'd find anything possible about Ruri.

And if he could smash Yuuri's face in, and Dennis's as well, then all the better for him. He could multi-task.

Yuuri stopped in front of the door to Shun's room. "Don't get very comfortable," he warned. "We'll be going back to the Fusion dimension in another couple of days."

Shun tensed at that. "Why?" He didn't know if this would change his chances of finding out about his sister or not.

"Because I've done almost everything here that I want to do. I have other matters to take care of as well." He smiled, a frigid expression, and waved open the door to Shun's prison. "Oh, don't worry about your precious world here. We're not even close to being done with it yet."

That didn't make Shun feel one bit better. In all fairness, he didn't think Yuuri had been trying to make him feel better.

His dinner awaited him on the small table in the center of the room. Tonight it seemed Yuuri truly was pleased with him; steaming hot roast beef with some of the better vegetables Shun had seen since the invasion. He gave it a look and only took a few bites. Most of his appetite vanished the moment Yuuri mentioned they would be going to the Fusion dimension.

 _I'm not going to go there._ He'd been toying with this thought off and on for days now, waiting for the right moment to put it into action: his escape. The escape that he _had_ to make before he couldn't do it anymore.

Going to Fusion would put paid to any attempts. Here he knew the territory to some degree, outside of where he was currently allowed to roam under Yuuri's supervision. There he wouldn't know anything. Here he could find his friends and fellow survivors. There anyone he met would have their hands set against him, as his were against them.

Here he could fight against the people who'd destroyed his world. There he would be little more than Yuuri's pet, taken out and paraded around whenever Yuuri wanted to do so.

His stomach churned at the thought and he had to force himself to finish eating. He didn't _want_ any of the food; he'd never wanted anything Yuuri gave him. But he didn't want anyone asking questions on why he didn't eat, either.

The whole idea was simple. It would have to be when Yuuri wasn't around; Yuuri held the device that could activate the shock collar. He'd break away from the guards. He'd find a way out.

He'd be free.

* * *

Time was hard to judge for him here. His room didn't have any clocks or timepieces anywhere in it and he'd lost his watch at some point during the invasion and never been able to get it replaced. But he thought it was a day or two after his duel against Sora when the door slid open and two of Fusion's warriors stood outside.

One of them gestured to him abruptly. "Come along. Yuuri sent us to get you."

Adrenaline shot through Shun. He refused to move an inch. "Why didn't he come himself?" Whether they believed it or not, he really wanted to know the answer to that. It could be important to his plans.

"He's busy. You don't think you're his only amusement, do you, XYZ scum?" The second soldier sneered at him. "Now get over here."

Shun held back a smile. If they were just going to resort to words, then it meant they didn't have the trigger for the collar.

Which meant any kind of pain they dished out, he could return in kind. Perhaps even doubled.

Throwing a few genuine hate-filled looks at the both of them – they'd been part of the force that destroyed everything he knew and virtually everyone he cared about, he had _plenty_ to hold against them even though he'd never met them before now – he pulled himself to his feet, made a point of dusting himself off, and headed for the door at a leisurely pace.

"Don't slow us down. You think we've got all day to drag you around?" The first one snarled. Shun didn't actually care and didn't hesitate in telling them so.

The second one started to raise his fist, when his partner pulled him back. "We just need to get him there," the first said. "Yuuri'll take care of him after that."

Both of them smirked at Shun. "You haven't even begun to see what Yuuri can do to you," the second one told him. "You've had it good so far. Just you wait."

Shun rolled his eyes and kept on walking. He knew this area of their headquarters well. Every time Yuuri took him out to duel, they came this way. So he knew which corridor he would have to take to go to the outside.

When they came to a crossing of hallways, Shun knew that they needed to turn left to go outside. One of his guards shoved him to the right.

"This way, idiot," the guard snapped at him. "You're not going out to play today."

Shun began to turn. Both of the guards had already done so and waited for him to catch up.

He took one step back, then surged forward, slamming into both of them with every ounce of strength he had in himself. One hit to the back of one head, another hit to the spine of the other, and both of them were down, flailing uselessly.

Shun whirled around in the same breath and darted down the hallway that offered escape and freedom. He wouldn't have much time; he couldn't even guess if he had _enough_ time. The moment they got themselves back together, they would call an alert. He had to get as far as he could before then, be it outside or not.

He knew which way to go. There were only a couple of turns and then the door would be there.

 _Ruri._ His sister's name reverberated in his mind. If he left now, could he find out anything more about her? Or would it be worth the effort to try?

He couldn't stay here, not in Yuuri's cage. That wasn't even worth thinking about. Perhaps once they were gone, he could lead the others back here and together the resistance could find out why the people of Fusion had done this in the first place, and what they'd done to Ruri.

And if there was a way to release people who'd been sealed into cards. Until they knew that, then those who'd been sealed were as good as dead.

 _Right. Leave now, come back with reinforcements._ He wasn't alone. He would be back here with Yuuto and everyone else.

He could see the exit ahead. The door remained closed; he'd expected no less. He slammed into it, hands scrambling for a way to open it up. Maybe he should've searched his guards for some kind of keycard or passcode or something.

He rammed against the door again. If he couldn't get it to open normally, then he'd put everything he had into breaking it down or tearing it off. He wasn't letting anything get in the way of his freedom.

"Kurosaki Shun."

Yuuri. Too close, he was too close, the voice didn't sound as if it were coming from a speaker of any kind.

"You're not being a good boy, Kurosaki. You're going to have to be punished." Yuuri almost sounded disappointed. Shun could not bring himself to care in the slightest. The more he disappointed Yuuri, the better.

He slammed against the door again. Had it given way? He thought there'd been some give, at least. Enough to make him slam it again.

"One chance, Kurosaki. That's all I'll give you. Give up this hopeless attempt and come along quietly. Or you'll come along screaming."

Shun slammed his shoulder against the door one more time. This time he _knew_ it gave, he could feel it, and there was just a tiny breath of air slipping around from it, too. "I will _never_ scream for you."

Yuuri's voice wasn't just louder, it was closer. Close enough that Shun knew if he looked behind, he'd see his captor. He didn't look.

"You will."

Electricity sparked along the collar, sending pain rocketing all through Shun. He bit his lip as hard as he could and slammed into the door again. He could see a tiny bit of sunshine out there now, little more than a finger's width of a beam, but it was there.

Again the collar sparked and shocked, and Shun threw himself against the door again and again.

"I don't like seeing you in pain, Kurosaki," Yuuri said. At least that was what Shun thought he said. He shook and shuddered, gripping the door more than trying to beat it down. The sun and wind called to him but he couldn't get to them, couldn't make himself move enough, not with how much the pain _hurt_.

He didn't look back. He wouldn't look away, not at all. "You...lie..."

Yuuri _loved_ to see him hurt. To see anyone hurt. That was just the kind of person that he was.

Again the pain shook him, like a dog with a rag. Shun's knees gave out from under him and he slid to the floor.

"You're right." Yuuri laughed and Shun found himself being turned over by the other's foot. He stared up at the face of his enemy. "Good night, Shun. When you wake up, you'll be in _my_ world."

Through Shun's dimming vision, he saw Yuuri press the collar controller one more time. It was the last thing he saw before the pain overwhelmed him and all he knew was darkness and the sound of his own screaming.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 9: 1,808|| **story:** 15,286  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Warm fingers carded through Shun's hair. He shifted, his mind wrapped in a low-grade fog that offered nothing but peace and warmth. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd been this comfortable. On a level he didn't want to think much about, he knew that he shouldn't be. Something was wrong somewhere and he should be awake and aware, alert and ready, and not relaxing into whoever it was that was touching his hair.

Who was that, anyway? Was it Ruri? No, couldn't be. She wasn't… she was… she'd been…

Anyway, it wasn't Ruri.

Yuuto? That seemed much more likely. He managed to crack an eye open and while his vision wasn't very clear, he thought that he saw Yuuto there above him.

 _Yes,_ his mind drowsed. "That's right. Who else would this be? Another warning thought tried to worm through to him, but he paid no mind. He wanted to remain just where he was, no matter how unlikely it was that he was there in the first place.

Yuuto was smiling. He'd always liked Yuuto's smile, so gentle and caring. He hadn't seen it in too long, either. Ever since… ever since the…

Too long. It had been too long. He stared up at the smile, wondering why it looked just a bit off. Was something wrong with Yuuto? He wanted to fix it if he could. He hated the idea of anything being wrong with his friends, and Yuuto ranked at the top of the list of those friends.

Again that hand carded through his hair, and then he heard a voice.

"So you're finally waking up."

That wasn't Yuuto's voice.

Memory crashed in on Shun and he sat up, eyes wide and horrified at how _comfortable_ he'd been with Yuuri that close to him, Yuuri's filthy hands in his hair, Yuuri _looking at him_.

What horrified him more was that he'd been utterly convinced for those few blissful moments that he'd been with Yuuto. Yes, his mind knew that Yuuto and Yuuri shared a face, for whatever reasons he could not fathom, but now his stomach churned and he had no idea of how he hadn't emptied the contents all over Yuuri right now.

Yuuri remained where he was, that cold, amused smile still set on his lips.

"Yes. You're all the way awake now." Now Shun could see that horrible controller in his hand, and he could feel the presence of the collar around his neck.

Shun threw himself to his feet, fists clenching. If it weren't for the collar and the controller, he would've thrown himself at Yuuri and done his level best to strangle him. But he knew far too well how fast Yuuri could activate the controller and he'd already passed out once from it. He'd been _so close_! He'd almost tasted the outside once again, been free once again.

"Kurosaki." Yuuri's voice lost its amused edge for a few seconds. "I'm very disappointed in you."

"I wonder if you can understand how much I don't care," Shun snapped back, refusing to even look at his captor, instead looking around the room. It wasn't the one he was used to, though it was about the same in quality. He'd been on the bed; Yuuri remained in the chair next to it. Neither bed nor chair were of the richest make, but they weren't rock-hard, either. He couldn't see his deck or duel disc anywhere, which didn't surprise him.

He heard Yuuri moving behind him. "I was expecting you to try to escape. Now you know I won't allow it."

Yes, he did know. Not that he _cared_ , but he knew. He would make an attempt again. No, not an attempt, he _would_ do it, sooner or later. He would have to plan it better than this one and make certain Yuuri wasn't around anywhere. That would do it.

"But expecting it doesn't mean I will let you go unpunished." Yuuri was far too close behind him now and Shun very clearly took a few paces away, putting as much distance as he could between them. When Yuuri spoke again, Shun could tell he was amused. "Until I decide otherwise, your rations will be… limited."

Shun all but rolled his eyes. "Of course." If they were in the Fusion dimension, then likely all the finest foods were available here. Yuuri really was doing this just to be petty, no other reason. And all because his _prisoner_ had done what any sensible person would do and tried to get away.

Yuuri's hand rested without warning on his shoulder. "Are you going to behave yourself from now on? If you are co operative, I can make things _very_ nice for you here."

Shun threw the hand off without so much as a thought. "I will never, ever co operate with you!"

That got a laugh from Yuuri and then the hand rested back for a moment before Yuuri yanked him around to stare into his eyes. "You weren't going to scream for me, either. But those were very sweet screams."

Shun's breath hissed between his teeth as he swung around, ready to knock Yuuri back. He'd barely managed to raise his fist before a jolt of pain washed through him. Yuuri had his fingers on the collar controller and he looked almost _disappointed_.

"You're going to learn how to behave around me, Kurosaki. If you don't, then this could get very bad for you." Yuuri didn't turn the controller on again but he had his finger on the button. "I'm sure you can figure that out for yourself, though."

Shun started to turn away again but Yuuri cleared his throat, not yet done with him. Shun set his jaw and moved away, looking around the room in obvious opposition to what his captor wanted.

That got him another wave of pain and he clenched his teeth and rode through it as best that he could. When it began to ease off, his fingers clenched so tightly into his palms that blood trickled down. But he still refused to look at Yuuri, even as his legs trembled and it was all he could do to stand on his feet.

"What was that for?" He managed to grate the words out and hoped he didn't sound as pained as he actually felt.

"Because I wanted to." Yuuri tossed the controller up and down before he began to move toward the door. "I'll come see you again later. Perhaps you'll be more co operative then."

Shun doubted it. He couldn't possibly imagine what it would take for him to start doing anything that Yuuri wanted him to do.

Yuuri paused by the door and glanced back at him. "We _are_ in my world now. There's nothing left of yours for me to bother to play with anymore. Nothing and no one."

Shun knew very well how easily Yuuri could hurt him. He'd had a taste of it only moments earlier. But that did nothing at all to stop him from charging toward Yuuri, hands outstretched.

"Ruri! Yuuto! What did you do to them! Tell me!" He had time enough only for those quick words before Yuuri's finger hit the button again and the pain tore into him, knocking him down to the floor.

It wasn't as intense as what had taken him down in his unsuccessful escape attempt, but he still couldn't do anything but shake and shudder as the waves rocked through him. Yuuri did not answer, but stared down at him with that sickly cold smile of his.

"The first lesson I want you to learn is that you ask questions only when I tell you that you can ask questions. Do not forget that even when you ask them, I'll answer them if and when I want to." Yuuri leaned forward and sent one more jolt through Shun. "Your second lesson is that I will give you pain whenever I please. But I think you've learned that one already, haven't you?"

He did not wait for an answer, at least not a verbal one. Instead, he walked out the door, which opened and sealed itself quietly.

Shun didn't know how long it took him to finally get to his feet and stumble toward the door. He looked everywhere for any way to open it, more to test a sudden theory than anything else.

 _Yeah. I thought so. It won't open for me._ It likely would open only for Yuuri. Shun gave the door a very annoyed look, then headed back to the bed. The room didn't have a lot of furniture, so that was the only place he could rest for now, and after what Yuuri had put him through, he knew he needed it.

He hadn't changed his mind. He would escape this place, no matter how long it took or what he had to do. And he would find a way to bring down his vengeance on Yuuri and everyone else involved in what happened to his world.

* * *

"How did he take it?" Dennis wanted to know, casually shuffling one of his decks. He leaned against the wall a short distance down from Kurosaki's cage, waiting for Yuuri to come out.

"About the way I expected him to." Yuuri tucked the collar controller away in a pocket of his cloak. "He's going to be difficult to deal with. He's one of those 'never giving up' kinds of people."

But difficult did not mean impossible, not where Yuuri was concerned. Difficult only meant 'more satisfying once one's goal has been achieved'.

Dennis nodded, a small smile playing over his lips. "Would you need my help for anything?"

"Only for a few duels here and there. I don't want him to lose his edge." Yuuri gestured for his friend to come along and they headed away from the cell together. "But I don't want you mentioning anything of his world to him at all. Let him think they're all dead." It would help to keep him raging, and the raging would wear Shun down more than anything else.

Dennis tilted his head. "Even his sister?"

"Keep that vague, if you have to talk to him at all about it," Yuuri advised. Shun did not need to know that Dennis was involved in Ruri's capture at all. At least not yet. Maybe someday he would need to know. But now wasn't the time.

Training him would take effort to get just the right edge, and Yuuri knew finding out anything about Ruri would get the wrong edge from Kurosaki. He wanted the edge of despair, of lingering on the dwindling thread of hope, of knowing that only by obeying Yuuri could Shun accomplish anything.

And Yuuri would make certain that was the edge that he honed to perfection in Kurosaki Shun.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 10: 1,674|| **story:** 16,960  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
Summary: Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Shun stalked around the confines of his room, restless energy keeping him going even when his stomach growled and insisted on more food. He did what he could to ignore that. Today wasn't going to be a food day. He'd had that yesterday and he would probably get a little more tomorrow, but today? Today was just water.

When Yuuri said he wouldn't get anything but the minimum as a punishment, he'd _meant_ it. Two bowls of rice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, every other day, and enough water to keep him hydrated. That was all that had passed Shun's lips since he'd woken up in the Fusion dimension.

Not that he would've liked it here even if he'd been getting five course feasts on a thrice-daily basis. He hated everything about this world, and had even before he'd set foot here.

But now he stalked, searching for some day to vent all of his anger in a way that would actually do something. He had almost no visitors. Only Yuuri showed up to bring him his food, and Shun suspected that was because Yuuri held the control to the shock collar. It kept Shun from attacking him, no matter how much he wanted to.

And, oh, how he _wanted_ to. Ever since waking up to those few blissful moments when he'd been able to convince himself that he was with Yuuto, a special loathing for his captor burned bright and strong in his heart.

Yuuri was completely aware of that as well, as shown by the way he watched Shun for the slightest hint of movement toward him. He wasn't stupid, either: he never turned his back to Shun and kept the control device ready in one hand. More than once he'd shocked Shun either to keep him further back, or just for the pleasure of seeing Shun in pain.

Every day Shun's hatred of him grew stronger and stronger. Alongside of it grew the painful and throttling knowledge that he was absolutely at Yuuri's mercy, if such a word could even be attributed to him. Yuuri saw to it that he ate. Yuuri brought him the food himself. Yuuri made certain no one came close enough to Shun for Shun to let loose even the smallest of attacks on them.

Yuuri made certain Shun could still duel.

He hadn't yet since coming to this world, but since Yuuri held Shun's deck and duel disk hostage, Shun knew it would happen again, and he ached for when it did. Dueling flowed in his veins like blood and even if nothing else came from it, he ached to see some Fusion duelist on the other side of the field battered and broken because of his own actions.

Until then, he would get along the best that he could. It would happen again. He could count on Yuuri for that.

Shun stalked a little more, running over in his mind what he'd had on him when he was caught and trying to make certain he knew where it all was. He didn't have much and he wanted to keep track of it.

Deck and duel disk, of course, with Yuuri, wherever he'd put it. That annoyed Shun more than he cared to let on openly. He hated the very idea of anyone going through his deck and seeing what he had in there. Granted they couldn't guess what strategies he'd use at any given time or how the cards would fall, but these were his _enemies_ putting their hands on his _deck_. When he escaped from here, he would do his best to cleanse the deck to remove their taint from it.

He had the same clothes, though Yuuri had 'thoughtfully' provided alternates, most of which Shun ignored. He only used them when he had no other choice, such as when his proper clothes had been taken away for cleaning. At least they returned them.

Something clicked with that and he began to sort through his clothes in search of something. He hadn't thought about it before, being too angry at being captured and forced to entertain Yuuri to do so. But now it sparked bright and he wanted to check.

Twenty minutes of careful searching through everything that was his that he'd kept with him and another thirty of even more careful searching throughout the room made it very clear, however. It was gone.

The door hissed open and Shun turned automatically, not wanting to have his back to whoever was there. It would be Yuuri. No one else came in here without Yuuri's permission and usual accompaniment.

And it was indeed Yuuri, with Dennis next to him. Shun crossed his arms over his chest and gave them his most practiced hate-filled stare.

"I see he's glad to see us, as always," Dennis said, the side of his mouth quirking upward. "Some things don't change, do they, Yuuri?"

"I wouldn't expect him to change. Not without a lot of training," Yuuri replied, his gaze raking over Shun. Shun stared back at him, shoulders tense, fists clenched, and shifted forward a half step.

Yuuri clearly saw the movement, but only gave him a warning look in return. The collar controller wasn't in evidence, but Shun didn't doubt it was on him somewhere. He lifted his head.

"What do you want?" Today wasn't a food day. His stomach rumbled, however, insisting that it wanted food even if today wasn't one for it.

Yuuri's smile could've chilled a polar bear. "I think the proper question is what do _you_ want?" His eyes narrowed for a moment. "And I believe I've told you that you ask questions when I _allow_ it."

Shun rolled his eyes. What else could Yuuri do to him? He wasn't used to the agony the collar could unleash, but it was something he expected and was used to.

Perhaps that occurred to Yuuri as well, since he shrugged the slightest bit. "I'll allow that for now, however." He reached into his cloak and pulled out something that Shun couldn't decide if he'd expected or not: his deck and disk. "I'm going to allow you a chance to entertain me, Kurosaki. If you do so properly, then your food will be increased."

As if to underscore his point, from a different pocket in his cloak Yuuri pulled out a ripe, round apple and a slender knife. Shun's attention focused on the knife right away.

"That's mine." At the moment he didn't care about the apple or the offer of more food or even the fact he was going to duel again. What he saw was that knife and nothing else.

Yuuri glanced from him to the knife, not stopping for a moment in his peeling. His cold smile flickered over his lips briefly.

"No, Kurosaki. This is _mine, because you are mine. I can have anything that used to belong to you that I want, and I find I want this knife. It's very useful."_

Apple peeled and now cut into fourths, Yuuri handed one of the pieces to Dennis, who took it without hesitation. Then he offered a second to Shun.

"That knife is _mine_." Shun repeated. By the time he said 'mine', he'd launched himself toward Yuuri. Both of Yuuri's hands were occupied, one with the knife and one with the apple. He wouldn't be able to get out the controller this time, Shun could get to him, and _make it hurt_!

He collapsed, lips sealed together to stop a scream, thrashing heedlessly at the same time, as pain racked him. He shuddered and squirmed until finally the agony from the collar eased and he slumped downward, trembling and hating everything that he could think of.

"Kurosaki, clearly you need more lessons. Get up." Yuuri nudged him with his foot. When Shun didn't move, more from hating to do anything Yuuri told him to than the effects of the pain, Yuuri kicked him harder. "I said get up."

Still Shun didn't move. He caught sight of Yuuri gesturing from the corner of one eye and then pain again coursed through him. He squirmed and thrashed, somewhere in all of that noticing that it was now Dennis who held the device, and he cursed himself for not having _thought_ Yuuri would do something like that, the clever, cunning, manipulative _bastard_.

"Get. Up. On. Your. Feet." Yuuri did not sound as if he were inclined to play with Shun at the moment. Every word rang of business. There wasn't any hint that if Shun stood, the pain would stop, but Shun found that small hope coiling within himself.

What else could he do? Even if he expected the pain, could get used to the pain, that didn't mean that he _liked_ the pain in any kind of way. It meant only that he needed to find a way to make the pain stop without compromising himself. If such a way existed.

The only answer that had ever meant anything to him came to him once again: Ruri. She had to be here somewhere and screaming on the floor wasn't going to help find her. He would never, ever be Yuuri's obedient pet, but he needed to at least be able to think and act and he couldn't do that when he was howling in pain.

Slowly, hating every movement, he pulled himself to his feet. As soon as he was up, Dennis stopped pressing the button. Shun drew in a shuddering breath and then another. He couldn't completely focus, not just yet, but at least he was standing and Yuuri wasn't kicking him and he wasn't being tortured by the collar.

Yuuri made a vaguely pleased noise. "First, you duel. Then, lesson time. You won't want to eat until after that. Maybe not even then."

That didn't sound like a good way to spend the afternoon. But against every bit of will he had, Shun acknowledged that he didn't have any control of how he spent his time anymore.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 11: 1,658|| **story:** 18,618  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Yuuri wasn't given to noises of pleasure all that much. Even at his happiest, he preferred one of his famous cold smiles to anything else. But as of this moment, he wouldn't have been _that_ surprised if he'd caught himself actually humming in delight.

It was all because of Kurosaki, that stubborn little brat. Yuuri didn't know if he would enjoy matters more if Kurosaki continued to fight him or if he finally bent his knee to the inevitable and obeyed Yuuri eagerly. Both situations had something to recommend them.

 _I wonder what that ridiculous counterpart of mine would think of him now._

Kurosaki still fought, of course. That little episode with the knife and the apple proved he hadn't been broken, merely quenched a little. But he didn't fight as hard, even if he didn't notice it himself. He knew the kind of pain Yuuri would and could inflict and while it clearly galled him, he would do as he was told with not much more than a threat or a spark from the collar.

That little trick with the knife really _had_ amused Yuuri. He'd counted on Kurosaki trying to attack him as soon as it dawned on him that Yuuri's hands were both occupied. Therefore, Yuuri placed the control for the collar into Dennis's hands, and that had worked beautifully.

He didn't want Kurosaki to trust anyone, not even the ones he'd once called allies. He wished to fill the XYZ duelist with fear and hatred, to see him turn from a confident rebel to an obedient plaything that suffered pain because it amused Yuuri to give him pain, and who knew that was his place in life.

It might take time to get him to that point, but doing so would amuse Yuuri to no end along the way. Yuuri liked being amused. It was one reason he enjoyed their hunting games so much.

And now he would have another one of those with Kurosaki.

If the Professor hadn't needed her, he would've been more than happy to try this with the other Kurosaki as well, just to see which one of them put up the harder fight. Not that the girl hadn't put up a good one herself, but it was hard to determine who fought harder when holding one of them restrained the other.

 _Oh, well. Perhaps I can do it once the Professor is done with her. If there's anything left._ And if there wasn't, Yuuri would not be overly bothered by it.

Now he stood outside what looked like a simple door with a security card reader next to it, but neither lock nor knob on the door itself. He turned to Kurosaki.

"On the other side of here is a maze. Get to the center of the maze and you'll find your duel disk and deck. On the way out, you'll find me. Then, we'll duel." He left out quite a bit from his explanation, such as the various traps set up in between the beginning of the maze and the center, as well as what would happen once Kurosaki got there in the first place.

What good was a game without a few surprises?

Kurosaki's raptor eyes rested on him. "Is that all?"

"Did you need something else? A reward, perhaps?" Yuuri smiled in his most sly fashion. "I told you. Please me, prove to me that you've earned it, and you'll get better food than what you've had. That's all. If you do _very_ well, I might let you go outside." On a leash, of course. Yuuri didn't like his pets getting away from him. He'd gone to too much trouble already with Kurosaki's training to let that happen.

Not waiting for an answer, he slid his identity card into the reader and waited for it to open. Only his could get someone into or out of his maze. Not even Dennis's could.

Once the door slid open, he gave Kurosaki a stern look. He said nothing else, though he did keep the knife in his hand and toy with the tip of it. He'd taken this from Kurosaki within the first hour of having captured him, doing so with such care that the other hadn't even noticed. Now it was his and he would use it in front of Kurosaki until the other accepted it was no longer his.

Kurosaki's shoulders bunched up, his attention focused on that knife. Dennis shifted a bit, raising the controller.

"Just go on in there and give us some entertainment," Dennis said. "Be a good little boy."

Cold raptor's eyes slid over to Dennis and Yuuri saw pain and the desire to cause more pain written in them. He smiled. That would be even better than Kurosaki being an obedient toy, if he were more like _him_.

For now, however, Kurosaki jerked to the side and stalked into the maze, the door closing firmly behind him. Yuuri let out a small chuckle.

"I can't tell who he wants to kill more, me or you," Yuuri said, moving over to a small array of screens that would let them know Kurosaki's progress through the maze. It would probably take him at least an hour to get to the center, if not more. Kurosaki's lack of food would take a toll on him. He might not even make it to the center at all.

That would very much displease Yuuri if it were so. Of course it would be Kurosaki's own fault if that happened. He shouldn't have tried to escape.

He would try again, there was no doubt of it. But Yuuri had plans for that, too. He planned for everything he could. It made wrecking other people's plans that much more fun, especially if they'd counted on their plans succeeding as much as he thought most of them did.

Dennis only shrugged. "I don't think he knows either." A grin flashed across his features. "Maybe we should let him try to figure it out one day."

Yuuri returned the smile. Dennis wasn't as much into the pain of other people as he was, but he had his moments, few and far between as they tended to be. Then he looked back at the screens.

 _Entertain me, Kurosaki Shun. Entertain me._

* * *

Almost as soon as the door closed behind him, Shun dropped down to his knees, avoiding a spray of sharp-edged darts by the thinnest of margins. His fingers scraped against the smooth floor beneath him, arms shuddering as he tried to figure out what was going on.

 _Darts._ He titled his head up to get a better look. Something green and unhealthy looking dripped from where the darts buried themselves in the door and he squirmed away to avoid getting touched by it.

He wasn't surprised in the slightest to find this wasn't possibly an ordinary maze. Yuuri wouldn't bother himself with an ordinary maze. This would probably be the easiest thing to deal with here.

Shun's stomach growled fiercely. He ignored it; he had to work through this before he could even consider getting food. He started to stand up, moving with extra caution. Which way to the center? Right or left to start with?

Right. His only justification for that was that he was right handed. He moved along with caution, taking each step carefully for the first few moments before he broke into his fastest run, darting from one side to the other in an attempt to avoid whatever traps he encountered.

Up ahead of him, the floor suddenly melted away moments before his feet would strike there. In the moments before he reached that spot, he leaped forward, pushing himself as far as he could.

He landed on the far side, crouched down, absorbing the impact of his landing as much as he could. He caught his breath, trembling, his stomach unsettled and his legs shaking.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't let himself collapse. He shoved all thoughts of weakness, weariness, and food to the very back of his mind and yanked himself to his feet, charging forward even faster.

Ahead of him there now stood two statues, each armed with swords, that turned toward him as he raced forward. He didn't waste a moment in wondering how they could exist. All he did was leap upward and bring one elbow down on the closest one with all of his strength, knocking it to the side. It slammed into its companion, sending it off its pedestal a little, and the second one swung back at it.

Satisfied that they would fight each other and not him, Shun took the time to get into a place where he could see more of the territory and picked a new direction to keep going in. He knew there was some kind of trick to traveling a maze; Yuuto had mentioned it to him before. But he couldn't remember what it was, no matter how the thought danced and whirled at the back of his mind.

 _Doesn't matter,_ he decided, taking his new route with all due speed. _Yuuri wants me to get to the center. So I will, whether I want to or not._ All that might differ would be how much damage he'd taken getting there.

Something swished through the air and he ducked and rolled, feeling his hair move against the wind as he did. A quick check showed a few stray hairs and he looked to see a half dozen arrows, edges as sharp as the darts had been, now buried into the far wall of the metallic-walled maze.

Yuuri wasn't just making games here. If he failed to work past any of these, he would most likely be dead.

Shun hissed between his teeth. As if he'd give Yuuri that satisfaction. He'd make it to the end and fight in that duel, no matter what he had to do along the way.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 12: 1,844|| **story:** 20,462  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Dennis watched thoughtfully as Shun made his way through the traps. Despite having been in the maze little more than half an hour, sweat dripped down the sides of his face, his features were drawn with weariness, and Dennis would've wagered he'd do almost anything for a sandwich. Not that he'd get one, not without Yuuri's permission, but he'd probably do anything Yuuri said now for one.

Too bad Yuuri wasn't giving him that option until he'd reached the center of the maze. Maybe not even then. Yuuri liked seeing people in pain too much to make it that easy.

Dennis knew Yuuri's sadistic side far too well. He'd experienced it plenty of times himself. He knew better than to protest too much. Yuuri liked it when his playtoys fought back. It gave him an excuse to get even rougher with them.

Kurosaki Shun hadn't figured that out yet. If he ever did, he might actually stand a chance of getting out of here. Probably as a card if anything else, but it was a better chance than actually escaping. Dennis knew for a fact there wasn't any way for Kurosaki to get out on his own two feet.

"I think he's about half-way there," Yuuri mused, watching Kurosaki's progress. The corners of his mouth quirked upward. On someone else, it might've been called a smile. "He's doing better than I thought he would, given how hungry he is."

"That's probably why he's doing it," Dennis pointed out. "He wants to get fed more than a half-bowl of rice."

Yuuri chuckled, a sound meant to give nightmares. "We'll see how he does against me before that gets decided."

Dennis knew very well how Kurosaki could duel. He'd seen it himself, against him and watching him against others. He might not _win_ against Yuuri but it would most certainly not be for the lack of trying. But he wasn't going to say that out loud, not to Yuuri. Some things were said to his friend and some were not.

Yuuri held his hand out and Dennis instantly set the collar controller in it. He couldn't say that he'd disliked using it on Kurosaki earlier. It had been a good decision of Yuuri's, distracting the guy with one thing so he wouldn't guess the controller could still be used. He could see where Yuuri enjoyed tormenting him with it. There was something about the way that he flopped around helplessly that was hysterical.

"Keep an eye on him. If he does anything interesting, I want to know about it," Yuuri instructed. Dennis nodded; he would be able to see and hear what was going on from anywhere in the maze, and communicate with Yuuri no matter where he was in there as well. Kurosaki, on the other hand, couldn't see or hear anything that wasn't right in front of him. He didn't get the communication devices that they had.

 _I wonder how terrified he'd be if he knew just how much Yuuri knows about him. More than he is now, I'm sure._ Dennis enjoyed entertaining and being entertained. It was one reason he liked being Yuuri's friend. And this kind of entertainment was something very rare and special. So far as he knew, no one else in Academia had a captive pet from XYZ. No one was even looking at Synchro yet.

Dennis wasn't interested in collecting a pet for himself; he preferred to spread his entertainment to as large a group as he possibly could, not confine it to a small number. He loved the sound of cheering, of crowds chanting his name, be it for a duel or a magic show, or a combination of the two.

He knew that sooner or later, he'd be going into deep cover again, either in Synchro or in Standard. He didn't know which, but one of the two would be next in the Professor's sights, and Dennis would be ready to go searching once again. He hoped that this time, it would take longer for him to find who the Professor wanted him to look for. He really _had_ hated finding Kurosaki Ruri so quickly.

He brought his attention back to the monitors. Kurosaki Shun was busy putting on a show of going through Yuuri's death-traps. Sweat-streaked, exhausted, his stomach growling enough to be heard through the sound system, sometimes a little dizzy if the way that he stopped to recover himself said anything, and with a growing collection of small injuries from the run, he looked to Dennis's eyes as if he would welcome death.

Well, Yuuri _was_ on the way. That was as close to death as Kurosaki would get for some time to come.

Dennis settled himself into the chair in front of the monitors, picked up an apple from the tray Yuuri kept in there, and started on it. He didn't see why _he_ should go hungry. Besides, Yuuri's intentions promised dinner _and_ a show. He quite looked forward to this.

* * *

Shun leaned against the side of one of the maze-walls and did his level best to catch his breath. His shoulders shook more than he wanted and his stomach wrapped around his backbone, his throat burned for water, and he wanted to rest, to be able to let his guard down for just a few seconds.

But he didn't. He couldn't. He'd die if that happened, or worse. And he wasn't ready to die in the slightest. He wasn't going to let Yuuri win, no matter what. His determination would see him through.

He let himself rest only for a handful of moments before he pushed off and started again. He couldn't guess yet how close he was to the center of the maze but he wanted to think that he was close. He had to be close; this nightmare couldn't go on forever. He didn't _think_ Yuuri would switch things around so much that he never found it. That wasn't the kind of pain Yuuri would inflict on him.

Not today, anyway. He wouldn't be surprised if it came some other day. He wouldn't be surprised at anything that Yuuri did to him.

He moved onward. He'd tried to be careful in the beginning, but the longer he walked, the less it seemed to matter, because he just couldn't tell if he got anywhere at all. So he kept going because he had nothing else that he could do. He did have a goal, to find the center and duel Yuuri, so that kept him going. He needed that goal. He didn't care about the food, as much as he wanted some.

He just wanted to see his Raid Raptors' talons shred into Yuuri and make him hurt at least as much as Shun hurt. That vision filled him as no feast ever possibly could.

Sometimes Shun couldn't even be certain that he wasn't walking in circles. There wasn't much that made one part of the maze stand out from any other part, except for the traps.

 _Is this a spiral? Or a circle?_ He stared intently at one of the walls and tried to figure it out, pushing the thoughts through his increasingly fogged mind. He wasn't having much luck with that, either, but he tried anyway.

He winced, shutting his eyes and rubbing them with the back of one hand. He couldn't see any other way out of here except by keeping going the way he had been. If he'd gotten caught in a part of the maze that had no exit… well, he didn't know what he'd do, or what Yuuri would do.

He moved on. And on. And on.

Somewhere along the way, and at this point Shun had no idea of where he he was, even more so than usual in a maze, a door slid open in front of him. Shun stared at it, then stalked through. He wanted this to be the end. He wanted to see Yuuri on the other side, so he could finally be _done_ with this.

What he saw was a long stretch of corridor, steel polished to the sheen of a mirror. As he walked down, images began to flicker on them, and as it dawned on Shun who they were of, his fists clenched and a low growl lashed out from between his teeth.

Yuuto. The other members of the Resistance. Some of them fighting and falling, the cards they'd become gathered up and taken away. Shun shook his head and stalked farther, not wanting to relive all of this. Some of it he'd seen first-hand, some of it could only be events that happened after his capture.

One by one they all fell, until only Yuuto remained. Shun kept on walking, spying what he thought was the end of the corridor ahead of him. Yuuto stood on all sides of him now, the images showing him just as alone as Shun was. Shun tried hard not to look at him. He wanted to, he wanted to with every ounce of his heart and soul. But these were only images. These weren't really Yuuto. He did not want them to be Yuuto. He didn't want to imagine Yuuto alone and vulnerable, or worse.

He truly did not want to imagine Yuuto as a card. Or dead. Or whatever it was that happened to someone when their soul was sealed into a card.

The door at the end swung open when he came close enough to touch it. On the other side he saw a wide room, with a pedestal in the center of it. On the pedestal there rested his familiar duel disk and his deck. Shun hurried there, his heart skipping beats at the thought of having his precious possessions back in his hands.

When he had the deck in the disk and the disk back on his arm, he turned back the way that he'd come. He could see two doors now. One of them reflected Yuuri's image, though there wasn't any sign of him anywhere in the area. The second one showed Yuuto, with an equal lack of someone to reflect it from.

Yuuri's voice rang around the room without warning. "Choose, Kurosaki Shun."

Shun's blood turned to ice. He waited to see if Yuuri said anything else, to give some sign of what either choice would make. He heard nothing at all.

His eyes narrowed. He stared at them both. Their poses were almost identical, each one ready to fight. Could Yuuri have captured Yuuto as well, and if Shun chose him, then he would have to fight his best friend?

Adrenaline gave him a jolt to his thinking that nothing else could have. He refused to believe that Yuuri could've done that. And regardless, he wanted to fight Yuuri. He wanted to stomp him into the ground for all that he'd done and wanted to do and would do.

So it was for Yuuri's door that he reached at last, with all the hope in his heart that this was the right choice.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 13: 1,619|| **story:** 22,081  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

The door behind the image of Yuuri lead to something Shun hadn't seen in too long: a broad garden full of rich green grass and fragrant flowers of every kind. Shun hadn't imagined Yuuri being the gardening type. He made his way down a pebbled path, eyes darting everywhere to search for his enemy.

He'd never really thought of himself as the kind of person drawn to nature, either, but the longer he stayed here, the longer he liked the view. It reminded him on some levels of what his world had been like before the invasion.

That just made him angrier as well, to think that all of that peace had been ruthlessly crushed under the boots of those who thought they had some right to take this peace away from other people.

 _They'll pay for it. All of them. Starting with Yuuri._ He'd see to it himself.

The path widened and came to an end. There, his duel disk on his arm and his usual cold smile on his face, stood Yuuri. As soon as Shun came into view, the Fusion duelist nodded a fraction.

"I see you made the right decision and came to face me." Yuuri's eyes did not stray away from Shun's features. "Good boy."

"Shut up and fight." Shun didn't care about anything Yuuri had to say or so. His fingers tingled in anticipation as he began to shuffle his deck.

Yuuri did the same, the tiniest of quirks to his lips. Shun knew that he expected to win, expected to grind Shun into the dust and break him utterly. Shun refused to let that happen.

He could feel eyes on him and decided it had to be Dennis watching from somewhere. He'd crush the fake entertainer too, he knew. He'd take on the entire Fusion army if he had to, and leave a trail of destruction that this entire world would speak of for years to come.

The duel began. Shun took the first turn, wanting a strong strike against Yuuri. He never let up in any of his duels, but he could afford to do so even less now. So much rode on this.

"Do you like my garden, Kurosaki? I designed it myself." Yuuri gave the whole area a possessive glance. "Sadly I can't take care of it very well. I have a black thumb when it comes to plants."

"Or anything else." Shun retorted. "You kill everything that you touch."

Yuuri smiled. "I haven't killed you yet." He took his turn, his precise movements and methods calling Yuuto to Shun's mind. Shun pushed it away. Yuuto and Yuuri were nothing alike, he reminded himself. He could not let himself be distracted. "I'm sure that you don't know this, but these plants are all very special."

Shun didn't bother answering. He truly did not care. Yuuri's attacks bit into his life points and he had to stay strong. Not having had proper food in as long as he hadn't made his legs shake when the monsters struck him.

"I'm a very bad host," Yuuri mused as Shun had to take a moment before drawing his next card. "I really should've given you something to eat before we started this duel." His eyes glimmered with the wickedness Shun expected from him. "Perhaps a nice bowl of rice would've been good."

Shun steeled himself, eyes blazing. "You're not my _host_. You're keeping me prisoner."

"Mincing words, nothing more. I'm responsible for your upkeep and that is what matters." Yuuri waited as Shun made his way through his turn. "You're doing very well. I am pleased with you."

"If you want me to eat, you're not doing much to increase my appetite." Though as far as Shun was concerned, the three hundred points he'd just shaved off of Yuuri's life points did that very well. It wasn't a huge bite, but every little piece helped.

Yuuri didn't even flinch. "I don't know why you keep fighting. There's nothing left for you to fight for. You're not even in your old world anymore. Everything you had is gone."

The words bit into Shun every bit as much as Yuuri's monsters did. Shun refused to let it hurt. "That's why I fight: to get it all back."

"That won't happen." Yuuri didn't show a sign of doubt. "There's nothing to take back. Your world is dead now. Not a single survivor except for you."

Shun breathed harder. He could imagine what it would feel like to press Yuuri's neck between his hands and if it hadn't been for the collar and the fact he knew _someone_ would be waiting to use it on him…

But it made for something to dream about and he'd do it one day, he knew that he would. The idea of beating Yuuri's head in with the collar controller pleased him more than he could even imagine.

"Now, pay attention," Yuuri told him crisply. "I told you that you're making me happy, but that doesn't mean you're going to win."

Shun would've said he'd heard plenty of people telling him that they were going to win a duel, but Yuuri didn't give him the chance. Instead, he launched into a series of plays that destroyed every Raid Raptor Shun had on the field and summoned what had to be his ace monster, rising cold and cruel as Yuuri himself, then sinking talons into Shun's life points and shredding all of them down to absolute zero.

Shun collapsed under the attack, unsteady and hardly able to think, let alone breathe or stand up on his own two feet. He hated Yuuri, hated everything about him, wanted to kill him, and didn't dare to raise a hand against him, knowing that agony and abject pain would be his only reward for it.

He came back to himself with the feeling of Yuuri's hand on his head. He started to pull away but Yuuri's grip tightened, disallowing it. Shun sealed his lips together and just waited to see what else Yuuri had in mind.

"Yes. You did very well, given your situation. I think this means you'll get some dinner tonight." Yuuri sounded _so_ pleased and Shun ached once again to shred him in some fashion. "Now, get up."

Shun didn't want to. But his legs didn't pay attention to what he wanted, slowly stumbling upward, taking long moments until he was actually steady. Yuuri didn't move, watching him with that satisfied tilt to his lips.

Shun realized somewhere in the deep back of his mind that Yuuri was shorter than he was. Not that it mattered very much; Yuuri held the power between the two of them. But it dug into him to have to look _down_ and know that Yuuri could do whatever he wanted to him and Shun could do nothing at all.

"Come along." Yuuri gestured and Shun followed. He didn't let himself daydream about all the revenge that he wanted to have, saving that for when he was in his room and could do so while stretched out on his bed, completely relaxed and ready to enjoy himself. For now, he had to focus on walking and not passing out. Whether he liked it or not, the lack of food had an effect on him and Yuuri had promised food.

Yuuri said nothing at all as they walked through the bushes and trees. Shun paid a bit more attention this time and wasn't surprised to see a few signs he could recognize as the plants being poisonous. A few he recognized from long ago classes, some he'd only heard of.

"I said they were special, didn't I?" Yuuri said, pausing by one bush covered in dark blooms. "They're all poisonous. Every last one of them."

Shun snorted. "I'm not surprised." Only Yuuri would have a garden of poison plants. He made certain not to touch any of them with his bare skin. He didn't trust Yuuri not to try to poison him with one of them.

But he did make it out safely and eventually they came back to where the two doors of Yuuri and Yuuto were. Shun glanced behind them, wondering what would've happened if he'd chosen Yuuto's door.

Yuuri couldn't read his mind, but he did a reasonable good impression of being able to do so anyway as he looked at Shun. "You still would've been brought to me, just by a different route." That slash of an ice-cold smile flickered across his lips. "It would have made no difference at all."

Shun's shoulders tightened and he pressed his lips together, stalking along a pace or two behind Yuuri. _Nothing I do makes a difference here,_ he realized. He hated it, but what hurt the most was that he couldn't do anything about it. He had _no_ power at all; he could only react to what Yuuri wanted him to do.

In due course they made it back to his room and Yuuri allowed him to go in first. The moment Shun passed the threshold, he could smell a delicious fragrance, something rich, meaty, and hearty, and a few steps past, he saw a bowl of hot, meaty soup and a cup of something liquid, both on his usual dining table.

"You don't need anything solid yet," Yuuri said by way of explanation as Shun settled in front of the table. He set one hand beside the bowl and stared down at Shun. "There's something that you should say. I presume that you have some manners, of course."

Shun flexed one hand. He wanted to say plenty to Yuuri but knew what was expected. The words tasted like poison on his tongue.

"Thank you, Yuuri."

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 14: 1,672|| **story:** 23,753  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Even with more or less regular meals, judging time remained difficult in Academia's prison. Yuuri's prison. They were the same thing to Shun. Yuuri brought him out now and then to duel, either himself or Dennis or Academia soldiers – all of whom he trounced into the ground over and over and took a thorough pleasure in doing so – and once in a while Sora, who he beat on both occasions. He still hadn't yet defeated Yuuri, but the more he dueled him, the more Shun thought that he might in the future.

The dueling was all that gave Shun any hope right now. There wasn't much else for him to cling to. He seldom spoke to anyone, nor was anyone allowed to speak to him. When Yuuri did talk, none of it revolved around anything useful.

Until one day when it did.

"You're going to duel another cadre of the Obelisk Elite Force tomorrow," Yuuri told him after one of their duels. Shun remained on his knees, catching his breath, after Yuuri's final blow. He paid little attention to the 'news'; the 'Elite Force' couldn't have stood up to the Resistance on the Resistance's worst day in Shun's opinion. But what Yuuri said after that _did_ catch his attention. "I won't be there, so do behave yourself."

Shun tensed the moment it sank in that Yuuri wouldn't be around. Yuuri was _always_ around, slicing into him with those cold, unfeeling eyes, digging deeper into him with each moment. The idea of Yuuri not being around while he dueled, even if Shun couldn't see him – it was almost incomprehensible.

 _I need to stop thinking like that,_ he reminded himself. Yuuri was his enemy. Yuuri tortured him whenever it pleased Yuuri to do so.

"I pity whoever is where you're going," Shun muttered, pushing himself to his feet at last. Yuuri gave him a small smile, one Shun did not return.

"Do you really have it in you to pity an entire dimension, especially one that wouldn't care about _you_?"

Yuuri didn't wait for an answer, but left, the door closing behind him. Shun flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, knowing his dinner would be brought soon. He'd been doing so well by Yuuri's standards that it would be a very good one.

He hated himself for the thought, but it was true. And there wasn't anything that he could do to stop it. Starving himself would only hurt him and not Yuuri, and it was Yuuri he wanted to hurt the most, preferably by finding a way to escape.

 _Yuuri won't be here. Only some of those idiots._ That didn't mean Dennis wouldn't be there; Dennis wasn't as sadistic as Yuuri, but he knew how to use the collar controller as well as Yuuri did.

The first sketches of an idea slipped into place. It wasn't much of one and he couldn't even be certain that he would pull it off properly. Too much depended on factors that he couldn't control at all, such as if Dennis was there and who had the controller.

But this was the first time he would be fighting without Yuuri there and he needed this chance. He would take this chance and cling to it with every ounce of strength he had.

* * *

For all the contempt Shun had for the Obelisk Elite Force, they shoveled it back to him tenfold. He knew exactly what they thought of him, since they'd never made it a secret: a prisoner, Yuuri's pet, a tool to be used to train them so they could crush whatever remained of his dimension and any other world Fusion decided that it wanted to conquer.

For his part, he went out of his way to show that he didn't even fear them to the small extent he did Yuuri. When Yuuri arrived, Shun tended to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. When they arrived the next day, he remained on his couch, eyes focused on the ceiling, and took a very long minute before he turned in their direction.

"You want to duel." Shun held back the slash of joy when he _didn't_ see either Dennis or Sora in their ranks. He'd spent as much time as he could forming this plan and he needed just one more piece.

"That's what you're here for, XYZ scum," the one at their head spoke up. He'd put a card of some kind into his pocket when they'd entered; Shun had caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He'd seen Yuuri using this card before. "Now get up and let's do this."

Shun deliberately didn't move. His preferred course of action wasn't being so stealthy, but after having been reduced to screaming agony at Yuuri's hands and the control collar before, he dared not jump too soon.

"Didn't you hear us, scum?" One of the others snapped. "Get up! We're taking you down!"

No sign of the collar controller, and these idiots would definitely use it if they had it. Shun let himself smile, just the tiniest bit.

And then he moved.

There were four of them. He hit the first one with all of his strength, built up from weeks of the good food Yuuri saw fit to give him and everything else he'd had to deal with since his original capture. The Academia soldier fell back, eyes and mouth round with surprise. Shun didn't give any of them a chance to recover, but grabbed that first one and slammed him into another.

In moments he was the only one standing up. His heart pounded, every muscle tense and expecting the agonizing pain of the collar to strike. Until it did, he went forward with his plan, searching until he found the card that let him out of his room and heading out, duel disk and deck held close to him.

His only chance to escape was when Yuuri wouldn't even be in the world and wouldn't hear about it for hours or days or even longer to come. He had a chance now to find Ruri and to get out of this world altogether. One or both. He'd at least _not_ be imprisoned in this place and that would be a step in the right direction.

So he kept running, taking down any and all guards that he ran across, moving faster with each one, and not surprised when he heard alarms blaring and a bland voice speaking.

"Alert, alert. The XYZ prisoner has escaped. Be on your guard. He is armed and dangerous."

Shun smirked at that. It was, after all, absolutely true. Armed, dangerous, angry, and searching for the nearest exit or the nearest place of information, whichever he could find first.

 _Probably an exit. They're starting to get thick around here._ For all of his speed and strength and the way he'd taken the original set of Obelisk Force out when he'd first broken free, he knew if he were overwhelmed, he could be taken down. Or they just needed to call Yuuri back and he'd be screaming in pain in no time at all.

Getting information would mean staying in one place, possibly long enough to get caught. Bad idea. If he could find a way that would get him what he wanted to know _and_ a way out of there at the same time, that would be perfect.

Shun didn't think that his luck would go that far. So he set himself to finding the way out first and foremost. Once he did that, he could find a way back _in_ for the information and the eventual rescue of Ruri.

That was as far as he wanted to go with planning. He picked his pace, swung around a corner and saw Dennis there with the collar controller in his hand, and didn't so much as miss a step, slamming one fist into Dennis's stomach and grabbing the controller in one move. He didn't stop to exchange any barbed words, but pelted down the corridor, breath catching in his throat, fear of Yuuri somehow returning sliding all through him.

He did what he could to put that out of his mind. He'd seen his chance and taken it. Yuuri wouldn't take that from him. He'd taken so much else, but this was it.

More corridors. Up a set of stairs, down a hallway, through a set of rooms, plunging past guards and taking time only to knock them out of his way.

Then, an open door, and a gust of clear, cold wind. Shun raced to it, felt more than saw the guards moving up behind him, and whirled, slamming one of them into the nearest wall and kicking the other where he knew it would keep his opponent out of the conflict for long enough.

If it also removed his ability to sire children, Shun found himself not caring in the slightest.

He didn't dare stick around for a drawn out fight of any kind. He just ran, aiming himself for what looked like an exit, and indeed proved to be one. And once past the gates, he kept on running, stopping only long enough to slam the collar controller and the keycard for his _former_ prison into useless bits of trash.

* * *

Dennis winced, rubbing his stomach where Kurosaki had hit him. "What were you feeding him?" The entertainer-agent muttered. "I think he ate too much of it."

Yuuri chuckled softly, but Dennis didn't think at all that his friend felt sorry for him, or for anyone else hurt in Shun's flight from captivity. Instead, Yuuri looked at the monitors which showed Shun making his way through the outer reaches of Academia.

"I give him three days at the minimum for he's crawling back here," Yuuri mused. "If it's longer than that, I might have to go looking for him. He is a stubborn one."

And from the smile on his lips, Dennis thought he would enjoy what happened either way.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandoms:** Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V  
 **Title:** Prey and Hunters  
 **Characters:** Shun, Yuuri, Dennis, Sora  
 **Word Count:** chapter 15: 2,105|| **story:** 25,858  
 **Genre:** Drama, Angst|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section J, #5, a multichapter with exactly 15 chapters; Written for the What-if Challenge: what if Shun were kidnapped attempting to save Ruri?  
 **Notes:** This begins not long after Ruri's abduction and before Shun and Yuuto cross dimensions to Standard.  
 **Summary:** Shun would rather have had his soul sealed in a card than play Yuuri's hunting games. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the choice. And Yuuri doesn't always hunt alone.

* * *

Shun's stomach rumbled in a very demanding fashion. After weeks of having some of the best food he could remember having since the invasion of his world, now having the only food he had being whatever he could scavenge from the leavings of Academia did not please his digestive system. He tightened his belt for what felt like the third time in a day and told said digestive system to just deal with it. Getting better food mean going back to Yuuri. Going back to Yuuri meant giving in. Giving in meant having _lost_.

Shun could lose duels. Either he would be turned into a card if he did, or he'd suffer more. He could survive the suffering. What he knew he couldn't survive was that look on Yuuri's face if he made his way back and surrendered. That look that said _see, I knew you wouldn't last out there_ and _you're mine now, stop fighting it._

Shun would never stop fighting it. He wasn't Yuuri's property. No matter what happened, he wasn't a beaten slave of any kind.

Living wild in Academia reminded him so much of living with the Resistance, but without Yuuto or Ruri or anyone else that he knew and cared about. And without a large amount of broken houses and stores that they could break into in order to get food and shelter for themselves.

He'd learned one thing very fast out here: Academia was on an island. He'd stalked the docks for days, trying to work out a schedule would allow him to get on board and find a way out of there. But the boats that turned up didn't have enough free space for him to be able to hide and not be found.

Somehow that struck Shun as off, but he didn't know enough about how big a boat should be to really be certain. So now he just made occasional trips to where he could watch, promising himself if he found out anything useful or saw a boat he knew he could hide safely on, he would do so.

Exactly where he'd go after that he didn't know. He knew almost nothing about the geography of the Fusion dimension. But he wouldn't be here, at Academia, and that would be good enough.

The fact that Ruri could be somewhere around here also kept him to this place. He refused to get too close to the doors, but he found places he could watch people moving around, and stared at them until he had some idea of who they were, or more precisely, who they weren't: none of them Ruri.

He did see Dennis and Yuuri on occasion, though, and when he did, he typically spent the next few days as far from the main building as he could manage himself. He had no intentions of being taken back, no matter what.

Once he thought Yuuri looked at where he was. It was just him being paranoid, he knew it, but he also recalled an old saying to the tune of _It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you_.

The collar remained heavy around his neck. He'd destroyed the controller to it, or the one Dennis had anyway, on his way out all those weeks earlier. He didn't know if Yuuri could repair or replace it, and he wasn't going to get close enough to find out. But wearing it still made him remember those horrible times when he suffered at Yuuri's lightest whim.

He hated Academia. He'd hated it before, when all he knew of it was that it was where the Fusion soldiers who came to conquer his world came from. He hated it when all he knew about it was that Yuuri came from there. But now he'd roamed over the island, every inch of it that he could reach, and he hated it because there wasn't a single stretch of land that was actual land. Everything here was coated in metal and what wasn't metal was rock, unyielding to the slightest grip of grass or greenery.

He managed to fish, on occasion. Usually late at night, when the glow of lights in the buildings were at their dimmest and he could wander around with a touch more freedom. Not much more; he never let his guard down no matter where he was.

'Home' for now was a small cave in one of the outreaches of rock that stretched ahead of the main part of the island. Finding it wasn't easy at all and he didn't make it any easier, for fear of guards or Yuuri finding him. He wanted them all to think he'd somehow left the island or returned to XYZ, and to stop looking for him. Then he'd try to get back in and find Ruri, wherever she was.

He curled up there now, eyes closed, breathing lightly, wanting to get what rest he could before he went out fishing again after dark. He could hear footsteps moving around outside, but ignored them, save to keep himself as still as he could. Guards made their way around every portion of the island and so far he had escaped their notice. If he stayed still, this would be no different.

"Kurosaki Shun."

That wasn't the voice of a guard. That was a voice that could and did still give him nightmares. Shun refused to admit they were nightmares, but he'd woken up many times convinced he'd heard Yuuri's voice only to find it was nothing.

But this time he wasn't asleep. He wanted to be, but he wasn't. With the first sound of that voice, sleep fled from him.

He stayed still. Yuuri didn't know he was there. He couldn't know he was there. He was attempting to get Shun to reveal himself, nothing more.

"I'm giving you three more days to come back to where you belong. Take longer than that, and I will come and bring you back, and I will _not_ be happy with you." Yuuri didn't sound happy now, but Shun couldn't remember a time when he had been. Happy and Yuuri didn't go with one another very well.

Shun shook his head. He knew Yuuri couldn't see him; he didn't want Yuuri to see him. But he answered for his own sake as much as for Yuuri's. He wasn't going back. He wasn't going to let Yuuri take him back, either.

 _So I have to go somewhere else._ The boats still weren't an option. But perhaps there was another one, one that he'd thought of, but hadn't yet considered as an option. _Maybe now is the time._

He waited until he heard Yuuri leave, then waited more. He didn't bother going out for food. His appetite, once raging, vanished the moment he realized this was his last ditch effort to escape. The consequences of failure seethed harsh in his stomach. He did what he could to ignore those as well.

All that night he waited, into the next day, and until night fell. He had little more time left until Yuuri's ultimatum. He didn't dare move until the moment he chose. If Yuuri watched still or had other people watching, then leaving would give away his hiding spot. So he would leave only when he didn't intend to come back there.

When the time came, he made his way ever so carefully across the rocks and water until he could creep into the castle building itself, finding his way in through a small door. He didn't know who used it, but it led inside and into a winding set of corridors that led upward. He followed through them, keeping himself hidden behind tapestries – all showing Academia defeating its enemies, of course – and whatever statuary provided enough cover.

If he'd had a map, he still couldn't have found his way to where he was going, because he didn't know where he was going. He wanted one thing: a way to cross other dimensions. From chance comments and overheard conversations, ranging from when he'd first been caught up until only a few days earlier, he'd gathered one thing: that the means to do so was via duel disks. So he wanted to find duel disks.

He peeked into every room that he passed, hoping to find something. He saw duels and he saw soldiers training but he didn't see Yuuri nor did he see Dennis nor did he see any sign of duel disks that didn't have someone already using it.

He saw none of those things, until he reached a room high in the castle, with a duel disk set casually on a table, and a deck next to it. Shun's heart skipped several beats at that as he made his way over there. He could hear water running farther in the room and deduced that someone had left their disk while they went to take a shower. Their desire to get clean was going to be his ticket out of there.

He rested one hand on the disk for a moment, then started to pick it up.

"You shouldn't try to take things that don't belong to you."

Most of the strength went out of Shun's legs at that voice. He squared his shoulders, however, and turned in time to see the door closing firmly behind him, and Yuuri standing in between him and the door.

Now he realized that the only other door in the room led to what was probably the shower, and if there was anyone there at all, it was likely someone Yuuri trusted, which meant they would be no friend of his. It was, in fact, most likely to be Dennis, which meant not only was he not a friend to Shun, but he'd likely want a few blows in on Shun for what he'd done during his escape.

But Shun, even now, with all of his hopes of escape and freedom slipping out of his fingers, wasn't going to just sit and let it happen. If Dennis wanted revenge, then he could track him down and take it himself.

Barely a handful of breaths had passed since Yuuri spoke. Shun still held the disk in one hand. He passed his eyes over it quickly, looking for whatever it could do that would take him to another world. He didn't know what world it would be. He'd heard mentions of others, of his own XYZ, of Synchro and of Fusion, and one called 'Standard'. What they would be like he didn't know.

Yuuri's footsteps came closer. Shun spied a small button on one side; one that he knew didn't correspond to anything on the duel disks that he knew. This had to be it.

He took several steps away from Yuuri and pressed the button, not wanting even the satisfaction of seeing Yuuri's surprised face as Shun vanished.

Nothing happened.

He pressed the button again. Still nothing.

Yuuri chuckled, reached out, and wrenched the duel disk away from him. "You could press that all week and nothing would happen. I disabled the universal crossing mechanism before I put it out here."

A trap. Yuuri knew what he had in mind and set a trap for him, one that he'd walked into. Shun held himself up now only by gripping onto the table the disk had rested on, unable to breathe in properly, unable to do anything but stand there as his hopes and dreams of flight and freedom crashed and fell in around him.

There was a movement toward the other door, and he heard Dennis. "So it worked."

"Was there ever a doubt?" Yuuri chuckled and one hand rested firm on Shun's shoulder, despite the difference in their heights. "Do you understand now, Kurosaki?"

Bile choked in Shun's throat. In all of his life, even when he'd known Yuuri could torture him at a moment's notice, he'd never felt so trapped. There wasn't any way he could leave. Yuuri wouldn't allow it, and in every way he could think at the moment, Yuuri held all the cards.

"You'll be punished in the morning," Yuuri said, almost in a reassuring tone of voice. "But I think you do understand. You are my prey and I never, ever let my prey go."

Shun could say nothing. He didn't know if he'd ever speak again.

Then he made up his mind. He would not. No matter what Yuuri did to him, no matter the level of his punishment, he would only speak when he found himself free again. He could keep that much for himself. He could keep his own silence.

 **The End**

 **Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.

 **Note:** There will be a sequel. I won't leave Shun like this. I'm not _that_ evil. But it will take me a while to work it up, because I plan to write it all before I post anything of it. In the meantime, I have at least two other side stories to this universe I'll work, one involving Yuuto and one involving Ruri. I would like to get to those before the end of January, but I can't say for sure. We'll see how things go.


End file.
